Chandrabhan Sanap, the man who was convicted for the rape and brutal murder of Vijayawada native software engineer Esther Anuhya in Mumbai during January last year, has now been been sentenced to death today by a woman’s court in Mumbai.
The decomposed body of Esther Anuhya, aged 23, an employee of Tata Consultancy Services was found in a Mumbai suburb called Kanjurmarg on January 16, 2014. Esther, who was working in Mumbai, arrived back from her hometown of Vijayawada at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus on the early morning of January 5, following a Christmas break.
Sanap, who was pretending to be a taxi driver, offered to drive her to the hostel in south Mumbai and he convinced her to accompany him on his motorcycle. He reportedly stopped the vehicle near Eastern Express Highway saying it had run out of petrol.
He then dragged Esther into bushes and tried to rape her. When she had resisted, he then hit her head on a stone and then strangled with her own dupatta. Sanap then burnt Esther's body amidst the thick bushes and escaped with her belongings. The only clue which helped police was the footage from a CCTV at the railway station, where he was carrying Esther's bag and he was walking in front of her. He was identified by a porter and nabbed two months later at Nashik!
