Artist, lawyer found murdered in Mumbai suburb

Well-known painter and installation artist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Harish Bhambhani were found murdered in a Mumbai suburb, with their bodies stuffed inside cardboard containers, police said today.

The bodies of Hema (43) and Bhambhani (65), their hands and feet tied with ropes, were recovered from near a drain in Kandivali last night, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection) Dhananjay Kulkarni said.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a police officer involved in the probe said the bodies were in "semi-naked" condition. Hema was estranged from her husband Chintan Upadhyay, also a painter, and the couple was locked in bitter divorce proceedings since 2010.

Police today questioned Chintan Upadhyay, besides her driver and domestic servants, Kulkarni said, clarifying nobody has been detained so far in the case.

"Police have not detained anybody yet and are only making inquiry. Police are quizzing those people who were in touch with Hema and her lawyer," added Kulkarni. An earlier report attributed to police had said three persons had been detained.

The bodies were stuffed inside cardboard boxes before being wrapped in plastic sheets that were sewn up, sources said. The bodies have been sent for autopsy and findings are awaited, they said.

0.0001pt;">A domestic help of Hema had lodged a missing complaint with Santa Cruz police station yesterday after she did not return home all Friday. The wife of Bhambhani had also filed a missing complaint with Matunga police station since he did not return home after having told them he was going to meet a client.

DCP Zone 11, Vickram Deshmane, who is probing the case, refused to confirm whether Hema's domestic help or Bhambani's family had registered missing complaints.

Police said Bhambhani's car, in which he had left for the meeting, is still to be traced. The Baroda born artist had in 2013 filed a case against Chintan, alleging he painted obscene pictures of women on the walls of their matrimonial home in Mumbai to harass her. Bhambani had represented Hema in the case.

Other women hailing from the kingdom's northernmost areas won, with two elected in Tabuk, one in al-Jawf and another in Hail. Additionally, a woman won in Saudi Arabia's southern border area of Jizan, another in Asir and two won in al-Ahsa.

Many women candidates ran on platforms that promised more nurseries to offer longer daycare hours for working mothers, the creation of youth community centers with sports and cultural activities, improved roads, better garbage collection and overall greener cities.