In what appears to be an act of revenge, a 20-year-old Hindu woman named Yashashri Shinde was brutally murdered in the Uran area of Navi Mumbai on July 26. Yashashri’s body was found in a severely mutilated state, with her face smashed beyond recognition, bones broken, multiple stab wounds, and her private parts crushed. The victim’s family has accused Dawood, a known molester, of committing the murder.
The suspect, Dawood Sheikh, has admitted to the crime and has been arrested from his hometown of Gulbarga, Karnataka, on July 30.
How Yashashri know Dawood?
Yashashri Shinde lived with her parents in Navi Mumbai’s Uran area. In 2019, her father filed an FIR against Dawood Sheikh for molesting her.
According to the complaint, Dawood had been following Yashashri to her classes and had once threatened her, demanding she spend time with him. He attempted to coerce her into a relationship and was even caught red-handed, forcefully talking to and harassing her.
“He had forced my daughter, 15 years old to talk to him and spend time with him. My daughter resisted. He also molested her and forced her to come close to him. He ignored constant resistance from my daughter,” Surendra, the father of Yashashri mentioned in the complaint filed in the year 2019.
Since she was a minor in 2019, a case was registered under Sections 354 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 8 and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Dawood was arrested and imprisoned for six months. After his release, he went to Karnataka but later returned to Mumbai, allegedly seeking revenge.
Was Yashashri having an affair with Dawood?
Initially, the police suspected that Dawood Sheikh had travelled from Karnataka, called Yashashri Shinde to meet him, and then brutally murdered her. The 2019 FIR (number: 175/2019) accused Dawood of molesting Yashashri, media reports suggest it might be a case of a “love affair gone wrong.” Call records indicated that she had been talking to Dawood for several hours.
“The girl had been in touch with a boy named Dawood Sheikh since 2019,” the police stated. “After her family found out about him, he left Uran and returned to his hometown in Karnataka. Despite this, the two remained in contact over the phone. A few days ago, he came back here.”
Reports indicated that Yashashri had a tattoo of Dawood’s name beneath her chest.
The family claims that Dawood had remained in contact with Yashashri and returned to Mumbai with the intent to murder her.
The brutal murder
On July 26, Yashashri Shinde was discovered lying in a pool of blood on an isolated road near a petrol pump in Kotnaka, Uran taluka, Navi Mumbai. Her body had been brutally mutilated; her private parts were stabbed multiple times, and her face was smashed with a rock to prevent identification.
Local media accessed CCTV footage related to the incident, revealing that the accused had been monitoring Yashashri in the Uran area. The footage shows Yashashri walking through a street in Uran on July 25. Ten minutes later, Dawood Sheikh is seen following her, suggesting that the attack may have been premeditated and that Yashashri was stalked by the accused on the day of the incident.
According to FIR Number 40/2024, filed on July 27 against an unidentified person, Yashashri went missing on July 25. She worked at AMII Business Support Solution in Belapur but was on leave that day. She had left home saying she would visit a friend and return soon. When she did not come back by 7:45 pm, her family reported her missing.
At around 2:20 am, the police contacted the family to inform them that a body had been found near the petrol pump in Kotnaka, Uran taluka. The body was severely mutilated, and the face was disfigured. Yashashri’s father was able to identify her by her clothing and accessories.
“The body was stabbed in multiple places, including her private parts. Her face was destroyed, and there were visible injury marks on her stomach and chest. It was definitely Yashashri. She was taken to Indira Nagar Local Hospital, where she was pronounced dead,” her father detailed in the FIR.
Yashashri sustained three stab wounds on her waist and back. Reports revealed numerous injuries to her private parts, broken bones, and additional stab wounds on her stomach and back. Her chest also bore several injury marks. The face was so badly damaged that it was unrecognisable.
Yashashri’s father later identified Dawood Sheikh as the primary suspect in the case and stated that his daughter was murdered as an act of revenge.
Dawood’s arrest
The police had formed eight teams to track down Dawood, who had fled Mumbai following the brutal murder of Yashashri on July 26. According to a crime branch officer familiar with the case, Dawood confessed to killing Yashashri Shinde because she had previously rejected his advances and he was worried she might be involved with another man.
He has been booked under Section 103 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for murder.
Is it a “Love affair gone wrong” case or a revenge?
The nature of Yashashri Shinde’s murder raises complex questions about whether it was a case of a “love affair gone wrong” or an act of revenge.
Initial reports suggest that Dawood, who had been in contact with Yashashri since 2019, may have had a longstanding, troubling relationship with her. CCTV footage reveals that Dawood was closely monitoring Yashashri on the day of her murder, which raises the possibility that he was stalking her and the crime could be connected to a premeditated act of vengeance.
According to the FIR and media reports, Yashashri was brutally attacked and mutilated, with her private parts severely injured and her face smashed beyond recognition. These details indicate a level of violence that goes beyond a typical “love affair gone wrong” scenario, pointing to a personal vendetta.
The family has accused Dawood of committing the murder as an act of revenge. This accusation, coupled with the evidence of Dawood’s obsessive behaviour and the brutal nature of the crime, suggests that the murder was motivated by revenge rather than a failed romantic relationship.
In summary, while the media has hinted at the possibility of a “love affair gone wrong,” the severity of the injuries, the stalking behaviour, and the family’s allegations strongly support the theory that this was a calculated act of revenge.
(The details of the FIR have been taken from an exclusive story by OpIndia)
