3 min readMumbaiFeb 6, 2022 04:42 AM IST
First published on: Feb 5, 2022 at 08:22 PM IST
CAROL MISQUITTA (28), a resident of Vile Parle (west), who had gone missing from her residence on the night of January 24 was found murdered on February 3 in the Waghoba Ghat, Palghar district after which Palghar police arrested her boyfriend and his aide.
Her family had lodged a missing complaint on January 25 with the local Santacruz police, who allegedly took the complaint lightly. In solidarity and support, a candlelight march has been organised on Sunday evening from St Francis Xavier’s Church in Vile Parle where she was buried and Carol’s residence seeking justice for her.
Carol worked in a BPO and lived with her 56-year-old mother Catherine, a single parent. She was in a relationship with the arrested accused Zico Misquitta (27) since 2011. However, they had intermittent breakups. Around 10 pm on January 24, Carol left on her scooty to meet Zico. Zico, too, left on his scooter and his aide Kumar Devendra (30) accompanied him. Around 12.20 am Carol, called her mother and said she will return home sometime.
Somewhere between 3 am to 4 am, Carol and Zico got into an argument on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway in Palghar after which he strangled her and then stabbed her with a knife. He also smashed her face on the rock repeatedly to disfigure her face.
Police claimed that Zico was carrying the knife with him. Zico and his aide then dumped her body around 15 feet from the road in the Waghobha Ghat area. They then hid her scooter in the bushes at another location and returned to Mumbai around 6 am, police said.
When Carol did not return home, her mother approached the Santacruz police the next day. The Santacruz police began their investigation but could not trace her. After 10 days, on February 3 around 5.30 pm, a person who went to answer nature’s call near the bushes got a pungent smell coming from the decomposed body and alerted the Palghar police. Palghar police looked for missing complaints in the nearby districts and identified Carol. They then checked the CCTV cameras on the entire stretch and narrowed it down on the two accused. “We have arrested them and produced them before a magistrate court that has remanded the duo to police custody till February 10,” said Nita Padvi, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of Palghar police, who is investigating the case. The knife used in the crime was found stuck in the chest of the woman during the post-mortem.
Talking to The Indian Express, Carol’s mother and aunt Victoria alleged that the Santacruz police took their complaint lightly. “Police did not help at all. I told them my daughter will never run away and she has a pet dog who she loves a lot and cannot stay away from. I also told them on Day 1 that it’s Zico. We also gave them an emotional letter written by her to Zico. They told me why are you agitating and by doing it will you get your daughter back,” Victoria said. Anita Shetty (56), an activist and a family friend of the victim, said things moved only a week after she called up top officials in Mumbai and Maharashtra Police.
Meanwhile, DCP, Zone 9, Manjunath Shinge said, “We are inquiring if there are any lapses on part of Santacruz police.”
Police have arrested a youth and his friend after the former’s girlfriend missing since January 24 was found murdered at Waghoba Ghat in Maharashtra’s Palghar district on Thursday. (Representational) 
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