PANAJI, Oct 13 : The Goa police on Wednesday said it was established that perfumer Monika Ghurde was murdered between 2 am and 2.30am on October 6, close to eight hours after accused Rajkumar Singh had forcefully entered her house in Sangolda.
Singh hid on the terrace of her apartment complex for two days before forcing his way into her flat — he abused and raped her, and finally smothered her with a pillow, the police said.
Police sources further said when Singh, a former security guard at Sapna Raj Valley apartment complex in Sangolda, forcefully entered Ghurde's flat at about 6.30pm on October 5, she shouted for help for at least a minute. He then flashed a knife to silence her.
The knife used by Singh has still not been recovered, sources said.
The accused was taken to Goa Dental College for examination to confirm if the bite marks on Ghurde's body were matching with his teeth. Saligao police inspector Rajesh Kumar told, "We have added Section 376 (rape) and 392 (robbery) of the IPC to the case." Police concluded Singh is the sole accused in the case.
Earlier, having forcibly entered Ghurde’s apartment on the evening of October 5, Singh, who was remanded in police custody for seven days by a Goa court, tied her to the bed after the perfumer fainted, the police said, quoting from their initial interrogation.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Vimal Gupta told the media that Singh then boiled eggs, and ate them along with chocolates and snacks taken from the storage while waiting for Ghurde, 39, to regain consciousness. He then reportedly extracted Rs 4,000 from her and demanded more money. “At this, she surrendered her debit card and ATM password,” DIG Gupta.
Singh subsequently forced her to watch porn clips and raped her, and later smothered her to death with a pillow, the DIG said.
According to the police, Singh also shaved at the perfumer’s flat after killing her, an act they expect will yield “clinching evidence” to link him to the crime scene. “We have secured facial hair from the house and sent it for DNA analysis. We are yet to recover the knife that he used to threaten the victim (and gain entry into her apartment),” an officer said.
DIG Gupta said Singh, who hails from Punjab, had been thrown out of his job as watchman of Sapna Raj Valley apartment, in Sangolda, Goa, where Ghurde lived, in July this year. Although there had been complaints against him by several residents, he reportedly blamed Ghurde since she had made the last complaint — about her missing umbrella, later recovered from him. This, Singh firmly believed, led to his dismissal, he has told police.
Unable to find a job, and failing to convince Ghurde to withdraw her complaint and get back his job, Singh left Goa, but returned on October 3 and went to Ghurde’s apartment complex, DIG Gupta said. “He was familiar there, so probably entered unchallenged. He camped on terrace of ‘B’ wing — right above Monika Ghurde’s flat,” Gupta said.
The DIG said he camped on the terrace for two days, surviving on water and some food stolen from one of the flats. No resident or guard, Gupta said, had seen him there.