'Victims of Social Stigma': Cops Probing 'Murder' of HIV+ Woman by Daughter

55-year-old Veena Jain's body parts were found stuffed inside plastic bags and steel water containers.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

Rimple Jain, who allegedly killed her mother Veena Jain and stored pieces of her body in her house in Mumbai, has always had a strained relationship with the deceased, according to a statement given to the police by Veena's brother, Suresh Kumar Paurwal.

According to the statement, Rimple 'taunted' her mother for being HIV-positive – and held her 'responsible' for the stigma they faced as a family.

"Veena's husband also died after contracting HIV in 2000. Since then, Paurwal has had to intervene between the mother and daughter several times. He had been taking care of them. They were given money and a place to stay. He used to visit his sister once a month," sources in the police told The Quint.

Paurwal had lodged a missing complaint with the Mumbai Police after he could not reach Veena for over two months. 

On 14 March, the Mumbai Police arrested Rimple after they found pieces of Veena's body in plastic bags, stuffed inside a cupboard and steel water containers, at their house in the city's Lalbaug area.

The Investigation So Far

On 16 March, the police detained 27-year-old Bobby Amjad Ali, Rimple's boyfriend, who allegedly helped her commit the murder. 

According to police sources, it may have been Bobby who got the marble cutter, which was allegedly used to chop the victim's body into pieces. Bobby runs a vada pav stall in Mumbai – and is originally from Lucknow.

"She [Rimple] is still in a state of shock. She is holding her mother responsible for all her miseries. They both are victims of social stigma," a police source told The Quint.

'Veena Not Seen After Fall'

Fifty-five-year-old Veena had reportedly suffered a fall two months ago, after which none of her other family members were able to contact her.

Police suspect that the fall may have caused Veena's death. However, Rimple hid the news of her death, chopped and stored her body, and made it seem like her mother was alive, so that she could keep getting financial support from her uncle.

"I could not visit Veena as I had fallen ill. But whenever my son or daughter visited, Rimple would say that Veena was sleeping. When we barged in, we couldn't find Veena but there was a foul smell in the house."

Suresh Paurwal, in a statement

"We were shocked to find parts of a highly decomposed human body in plastic bags. They were locked up in a cupboard," a police source told The Quint.

Ever since the media reported about Aaftab Poonawala allegedly killing his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar, dismembering her body, storing it inside a fridge, and disposing of it in Mehrauli’s forests in November 2022, more and more similar cases of violent crimes and murders have come to the forefront. 

Earlier in February, the Delhi Police arrested 24-year-old Sahil Gehlot for allegedly murdering his partner Nikki Yadav and storing her body inside a fridge at a dhaba, before setting off to get married on the same day. The same week, near Mumbai's Nalasopara, 27-year-old Hardik Shah allegedly strangled his partner to death, and stored her body in a bed box.