MACABRE
MUMBAI: The nightmarish memories of 26/7 that had almost faded suddenly resurfaced in an abandoned bungalow in Chembur's Collector's Colony on Friday. Children searching for their lost cricket ball in the vicinity stumbled upon a skeleton. The preliminary conclusion reached by the police is that the skeleton could be that of an aged maidservant who was trapped and drowned in the dilapidated house on July 26, 2005 when several low-lying areas of Mumbai were submerged under several feet of water.
The bungalow, 19-B, belonged to Janaki Shamiropa who died at the age of 70 in 2002. Since no relatives had come forward, her maidservant of nearly 20 years ended up living alone in the rundown cottage spread across an area of 1,400 sq ft. Locals told the police that they had not seen the household help, who was about 60 years old, after the deluge of July 26.
In the last few years, the cottage had been widely shunned because it was believed to be haunted. Uncut grass and foliage grown wild had almost covered the exterior. Locals said they had not seen a light inside the cottage for years.
On Friday, a cricket ball from the adjoining playground landed in the house. When the kids entered the cottage looking for it, they came face to face with a skull. "The children ran out helter-shelter and shouted that they had seen a ghost inside the bungalow,'' said P Panchunkar, senior inspector of the Chembur police. Grown-ups who went in to check after the kids saw a skeletal frame lying in one of the rooms at the entrance to the bungalow.
The skeleton was draped in a sari and a torn blouse and there were bangles on both wrists. The Chembur police called in a forensic expert who took away the skeleton to ascertain the cause of death.
DCP (Zone 6) Niket Kaushik said they were not taking any chances and were trying to trace the maid's relatives.
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