MUMBAI: Kirti Vyas, a resident of Grant Road who worked for BBlunt Salon in Andheri, went missing on March 16, 2018, after leaving home for work and her body was never found.
Her colleagues, Siddhesh Tamhankar and Kavita Sidhwani (name changed on court’s direction), were arrested on May 5 that year. A police inquiry found that the two strangled her in a car and dumped her body at Mahul.A prolonged search for the body did not yield results.
On Monday, a sessions court held two former colleagues — Siddhesh Tamhankar and Kavita Sidhwani (name changed on court direction), in whose company she was last seen — guilty of her murder, making it a rare conviction in the absence of the victim’s body.
Here is a look at the significant developments in the case over the years:
Went missing 6 years ago
Her colleagues, Siddhesh Tamhankar and Kavita Sidhwani (name changed on court’s direction), were arrested on May 5 that year. A police inquiry found that the two strangled her in a car and dumped her body at Mahul.A prolonged search for the body did not yield results.
On Monday, a sessions court held two former colleagues — Siddhesh Tamhankar and Kavita Sidhwani (name changed on court direction), in whose company she was last seen — guilty of her murder, making it a rare conviction in the absence of the victim’s body.
Here is a look at the significant developments in the case over the years:
Went missing 6 years ago
- February 14, 2018 | BBlunt salon executive Kirti Vyas issues a show-cause notice to employee Siddhesh Tamhankar after his poor performance at work, seeking a response by March 16
- March 16, 2018 | Tamhankar and Kavita Sidhwani (name changed on court direction) pick Vyas up from outside her Grant Road home at 9am. They strangle her & dump the body in Mahul. Her dad files a missing person complaint at DB Marg police station at night
- March 17, 2018 | Worried that cops would spot him on CCTV footage, Tamhankar tells his boss about picking up and dropping Vyas between Grant Road and Mumbai Central stations. He says he and Sidhwani had gone on a drive in the morning in her car, met Vyas and offered her a lift to the office. Sidhwani goes to police that night with husband and says she and Tamhankar had dropped Vyas near a mall
- April 5, 2018 | Investigation transferred from DB Marg police station to crime branch unit II
- May 3, 2018 | DNA reports show Vyas’s body had been stashed in Sidhwani’s car before being dumped in the creek running below Raoji Bridge in Mahul. A murder case is registered
- May 5, 2018 | Tamhankar and Sidhwani are arrested
- July 30, 2018 | A nearly 1,000-page chargesheet is filed
- November 10, 2021 | Charges framed against the two for several offences, including murder, kidnapping and destruction of evidence
- Dec 3, 2021 | Trial begins; Vyas’s father deposes
- Dec 8, 2021 | Last of the 39 prosecution witnesses deposes. Over the next 4 months, the court records the final statements of the accused and hears final arguments from the prosecution and the defence
Found guilty under these IPC sections
- 341 – Wrongful restraint
- 364 – Kidnapping
- 302 – Murder
- 201 – Destruction of evidence
Prosecution’s case
- Account executive Siddhesh Tamhankar was just four months short of completing a five-year stint at BBlunt’s Andheri outpost, which would have made him eligible for gratuity benefits. After Kirti Vyas handed him the notice for poor performance, he repeatedly asked her to take it back, including on the day before she went missing. But Vyas refused to concede to his demand. The prosecution said that senior officials from the Andheri salon testified that Vyas had the power to terminate employment and that they had been looking for a replacement for Tamhankar
- Tamhankar was also involved with a married colleague, Kavita Sidhwani, and was afraid that Vyas would also expose their relationship
Police’s version
Cops said as per the plan, Tamhankar reached Lower Parel on his bike, from where Sidhwani picked him up. They headed for Vyas’s house at Grant Road around 8am. Cops said they waited till 9am, when Vyas came out. They then picked her up under the pretext of discussing Tamhankar’s matter and offered to drop her at Grant Road station, but Tamhankar strangled her in the car with a handkerchief, they said. Cops said it had been established that the murder took place between Bombay Central and Saat Rasta, covering a distance of 1km
The convicts
- Siddhesh Tamhankar (42), a BCom graduate | Lived with his parents and brother at Bhoiwada on rent. He worked at BBlunt’s accounts department for close to five years and made around Rs 25,000 a month. In custody since arrest
- Kavita Sidhwani (48) | Lived in a highrise in
Santacruz with her husband and 16-year-old son. At the time of the murder, she had been with the salon for around two years. Granted bail in 2021