Mumbai: The city crime branch, investigating the murder of a 59-year-old musician Bennett Rebello, has found a confession note from his adopted daughter Rinki, 19, (name changed to protect identity), who was arrested for his murder on December 7.
In the handwritten note, the teen has expressed regret for killing Rebello. The crime branch is treating this note as a letter of confession.
In the course of their search, the officers found a notebook belonging to Rinki. On one of its pages, she had written:
“Dad, I am sorry, really really sorry, god sorry Dad, sorry for you, I am a bad girl
Kaise jisne gharpe rehne diya usiko maine maar diya (How did I kill the one who gave me shelter in his house)
Jisne parvarish ki hai usiko maine maar diya (I killed the one who raised me) sorry for that, sorry, sorry, sorry”
The crime branch team has also recovered an affidavit with Rinki’s signature, in which she first introduces herself, her family and also the woman who introduced her to Rebello.
She further states, I have requested Rebello for education, food and shelter and he has agreed to it. He is a kind person and has also requested the police for permission, the affidavit.
Crime Branch officials made it clear on Monday that the murder was planned and the main reason for the murder was the girl’s 16-year-old boyfriend’s objection to her ‘sexual exploitation’ by Rebello.
According to the crime branch, the girl and her boyfriend, both had a tendency to run away from home for months at a time. They met four months ago, at the Siddhivinayak temple in Prabhadevi, where they exchanged phone numbers.
In the past two months, they had grown close and when the boy learnt how Rebello was sexually exploiting her, he was enraged and planned to kill him, according to police. He had also discussed his wish to kill Rebello with his friends. However, the friends refused to help him.
The couple then hatched a plot to kill him on November 23 but did not do so, police said.
On November 26, when Rebello came home, Rinki slapped him and confronted him about how he had sexually exploited her. Since Rebello knew that Rinki and her boyfriend, he felt she had been tutored by her boyfriend and so menacingly went towards her boyfriend with a guitar in his hand.
However, Rinki struck him on the back of his head with a bamboo and he collapsed. Rinki and her boyfriend then grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed him several times. On finding that he was still breathing, the two sprayed his face with a mosquito killer.
The two then moved his body to the bathroom to wash away the blood and slept on the mezzanine floor that night. From the next day, they began to cut up his body.
According to the crime branch, the two took four knives, heated these till red-hot until and cut up the body, using a hammer for his bones, said an officer.
According to police, the duo then bought plastic sacks and bubble wrap to wrap the body. They placed a leg, a hand and with his private parts in a travel suitcase while the remaining body parts were put in plastic sacks and dumped in the nearby Mithi river.
They put two shirts, two pants and a sweater into the suitcases to soak the blood. The head and torso were wrapped in bubble wrap before dumping, said an officer.
The suitcase with the man’s limbs was found on December 2, in the Arabian Sea behind Mahim Dargah. Using the tailoring tag on one of the shirts found in the suitcase, ‘Almo Men’s Wear’, police located the shop and with the help of its owner, identified the owner of the shirt as Bennett Rebello.
A picture on his Facebook account showed him wearing a sweater similar to the one in the suitcase, corroborating their finding. A picture of his visiting card had also been uploaded on Facebook, which helped police locate his residence in Kalina.
When they reached his house, they found it was locked. However, they learnt of his ‘adopted’ daughter from the neighbours and tracked her along with her boyfriend to Asalpha, Ghatkopar. When asked about Rebello, she said he was abroad.
Since she could not satisfactorily answer their questions, police took her into custody. She told them about her 16-year-old boyfriend with whom she had committed the murder. The boy has sent to the children’s remand home in Dongri while Rinki was sent to police custody till Tuesday.
