Killer dentist case: 4-year-old's statement to be recorded

Mumbai: A day after a dentist Dr Umesh Bobale from Matunga stabbed his wife Tanuja to death and confessed about the crime to the police, the latter is likely to record the statement of the couple’s 4-year-old child with the help of counsellors. The Shivaji Park police suspect that the young boy may have witnessed the crime but can ascertain the same only after talking to him.

“The boy was in the same house and is repeatedly telling us ‘majhya baba ne majhya aai ka maarla’ (my father killed my mother). But we still don’t know whether he saw the father stabbing the mother or saw the body immediately after the murder,” said an investigator. He added that child is currently staying with his deceased mother’s maternal family. “He is sleeping peacefully is what the family said, but when we speak to him, in the end he asks when would his mother return home,” the officer said.

Early on Sunday morning, Bobale called the police control room and said that he had murdered his wife, subsequent to which the police arrived in his plush house in Kohinoor Tower and arrested him. “The victim had been stabbed 18 times on various parts of her body including her face and hands,” said an officer. Senior police inspector Gangadhar Sonawane said the accused’s statement was recorded on Monday. “He told us that his wife and he had been having problems and she had moved out of the house after filing for divorce. But on Sunday, a mutual friend asked them to spend some time together for the sake of their son and she came home for the same. The couple even went to watch a movie, had dinner in a restaurant and then slept,” Mr Sonawane said. Another source added that the Bobale and Tanuja started fighting early in the morning after waking up. “They had a fight about the alimony amount and Bobale got angry and hit her. He then stabbed her while she was on the bed and continued stabbing her after she fell off the bed,” said an officer.

The police said that they would decide on whether to enlist a counsellor for the child. “We will talk to him in a day or two and then decide whether he needs to undergo counselling,” said a senior officer.