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Just a day before she was killed, allegedly by her live-in partner Hardik Shah in Nalasopara near Mumbai, Megha Torbi called her aunt in Karnataka's Gulbarga saying that she would be transferring some money to her mother's bank account.
"At the time, she told me that Hardik had fought with her and beaten her up badly," Sandhya Torbi, her aunt, recalled to The Quint.
That was also the last time Sandhya would ever speak to Megha. On 13 February, Hardik allegedly strangulated Megha with a towel and hid her body in their bed box.
Megha, who was a nurse, is survived by her ailing mother, sister, and five brothers – all of whom live in Gulbarga. As the eldest sibling, she was the sole bread earner until a few years ago.
According to Sandhya, Hardik called her back 10:00 pm on 13 February and told her that Megha had left home in a rage after the fight.
"He then called me at 4:00 am informing me that Megha had come back and was sleeping. But I felt that something was off."
She then called real estate agent Sanjeev Thakkur, who informed the cops and discovered Megha's body in the bed box, Kanchi told The Quint.
"He was abusive towards her. We wanted to file a police complaint against him, but she stopped us," Sandhya told The Quint.
Sandhya added that Megha was worried that society would not be kind to her if she left him. "But at the same time, she loved him so much that she couldn't live without him," her aunt said.
Megha was working at Bina Nursing Bureau and stayed in the hostel provided by them. However, during the first COVID-19 lockdown, both Megha and Hardik came to stay with her family in Gulbarga.
But two days after they arrived in Gulbarga, a massive fight broke out between the couple.
"They used to fight a lot, and the fights were always about money," Jayant Torbi, Megha's brother, told The Quint.
"This is when we wanted to file a case against him, but Megha stopped us. Two days after he ran away leaving Megha behind, she also left for Mumbai," the brother added.
Hardik Shah is currently in the custody of Mumbai Police until 21 February.
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