Mumbai: In an interesting twist to the probe in the Mahim suitcase murder case, which may have far-reaching consequences, it has been revealed that musician Bennett Rebello's adopted daughter Rinki (name changed), who was arrested last week for killing him, is a minor.
This came to light when Rinki's biological father submitted her birth certificate to the police, which states that she is 17 years and four months old. According to the certificate, Rinki was born on July 21, 2002.
Following this, an Esplanade court magistrate on Sunday directed the police to produce her before the Juvenile Justice Board.
Although the police were at their wits' end as they could not figure out why Rinki was living with Rebello as she was not adopted by him legally, the tracing of her parents to Asalpha let the cat out of the bag.
“Rinki was not legally adopted by Rebello, but was brought to take care of the victim's ‘partner’, who was pregnant. But even after the ‘partner’ left Rebello, Rinki stayed put in his house.
We are now questioning the parents why one of their daughters was given to Rebello, who was not even remotely related to them,” said an officer.
A week after a suitcase with mutilated body parts of a man was found at Mahim beach on December 2, Crime Branch Unit 5 officials, who were conducting a parallel probe, arrested two teens for the murder.
It was revealed that the duo -- Rinki and her 16-year-old boyfriend -- had killed Rebello in a premeditated attack. They hacked his body into parts, stashed them into suitcases and dumped them in Mithi river.
The officer said, Rinki, who was presumed to be a 19-year-old, was booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for murder, causing disappearance of evidence and common intention.
Subsequently, as the probe progressed, it was revealed that Rinki had been living with Rebello for two years and she claimed to have been sexually abused by him.
But when Rebello found out that she was in a romantic relationship with a 16-year-old, he strongly objected to it. This, apparently, had enraged the teens.
Acting on information gathered during the investigation, the police on Saturday arrested a third person in the case. Ali Mia Chaus, 19, had allegedly helped Rinki and her boyfriend pack and dispose of Rebello's body parts at different locations in Mithi river. Chaus used to work at a pharmaceutical company where he had learned the skills of packaging.
