Bengaluru, Sep 21 (IANS): In a gruesome incident, a young woman, living alone, was murdered at her home, her body brutally chopped into 30 pieces, and the body pieces stuffed into her fridge, where her horrified family discovered her fate, Bengaluru police said on Saturday.

The incident was reported from Veeranna Bhavana near Pipeline Road, located within the limits of Vyalikaval police station of the city. As per preliminary investigation, the deceased woman has been identified as Mahalaxmi, 26, who hailed from West Bengal or Chhattisgarh.

The incident came to light when neighbours noticed a foul smell emanating from the victim's house for two days and informed her relatives. Mahalaxmi's mother and sister came to her house on Saturday, entered it to come across the shocking scene, and raised an alarm.

A police team, which arrived at the scene, was shocked to see the body parts of the victims stuffed into the 165-litre fridge. Though the refrigerator was operational, the body had been infested by maggots, which were moving in and out.

The police suspect that Mahalaxmi was murdered around the beginning of the month and her body was cut into pieces by a sharp-edged weapon like a knife or a sword.

Mahalaxmi, who worked at a popular mall and used to leave in the morning and come back late at night, had started living in this house five to six months ago. As per residents of the area, she lived alone and did not mingle much with her neighbours. For a few days, her brother had been staying with her.

The police have also found that she was married and had a son, but lived separately. Her husband, identified as Rana, has been traced and is being questioned.

Additional Police Commissioner, Crime, N. Satish Kumar told media that it seems one person has committed the act of murder, chopped the body into over 30 pieces, and stuffed them into the single-door fridge at her house.

Police sources stated that they have found most of the body parts in the fridge and there are fewer chances of the killer having taken them away for disposal. The police was putting the body parts into boxes to shift them to the hospital for examination.

More details are yet to emerge as police probe the unsettling crime.

A similar case was reported from New Delhi's Chhattarpur in 2022, where Shraddha Walkar, 27, was allegedly killed by her boyfriend and live-in partner Aaftab Amin Poonawala, 29. The accused had dismembered her body into 35 pieces, and put them into a big fridge before taking them out for disposal in the neighbouring forested area.