MBA student found dead in Indore classmate’s house; boyfriend missing

The woman, a first-year MBA student at an institute on Sanwer Road, left home on Tuesday evening after telling her family she was attending a birthday gathering with a classmate, identified as Piyush Dhanotia.

She had earlier accompanied her father to get her birth certificate corrected and told her family she would return by 11 pm. She did not come back.

On the same night, an objectionable video was allegedly posted from the woman’s phone to the college WhatsApp group. Her face was visible in the clip, while the other person’s face was obscured with emojis.

College authorities removed the video and informed her father the next day, also noting that both her phone and Dhanotia’s phone were switched off.

A missing person’s complaint was registered late Wednesday night at Pandharinath police station after the family approached multiple police stations. The family has alleged that there was little urgency in tracing her despite repeated pleas.

On Friday, residents of Uncle Gali in the Dwarikapuri area alerted police about a foul smell coming from Dhanotia’s rented house. Officers broke open the locked door and discovered the woman’s decomposed body inside.

Her father said the body had decomposed to such an extent that he could identify her only by her socks.

Police said rope marks were found around her neck, and a preliminary medical examination indicates she may have died around three days earlier, consistent with the day she went missing.

Dhanotia, who is originally from Mandsaur and had moved to Indore for his MBA, is the prime suspect in the case and has been missing since Tuesday, officials said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Krishna Lalchandani confirmed that a missing person’s complaint had been registered on Wednesday. “Prima facie, it appears she was strangled with a rope. Further details and the motive will become clear after the post-mortem report,” he said.

The victim’s father has alleged that his daughter was mentally harassed and blackmailed, and that objectionable videos were circulated using her phone.

Police said efforts are underway to trace the suspect and further investigation is ongoing.