Girl found murdered in Mylapore hotel room

Nivedhitha had established contact with Harish on social media and had agreed to meet him on Wednesday at Picnic Plaza hotel in R K Mutt Road in Mylapore, located close to her house. The duo checked into room 210, located on the second floor on Wednesday evening. After staying inside till late afternoon, he locked the room and left the hotel at night. The manager then noticed that no one was entering or leaving the room. On noticing Nivedhitha’s scooter parked outside the hotel, the manager got suspicious and went to check. He felt a strong stench emanating from the room and alerted the police who came and broke the door open. 

“We found Nivedhitha’s decomposed body lying on the bed, strangulated with a blanket,” a police official said.  The girl’s father Ethiraj (55) had lodged a police complaint saying that she had been missing from the house since Wednesday evening. Ethiraj ran a paper mart and Nivedhitha was pursuing her BBA. She did odd jobs to support the family. Police sent the body to the Government Royapettah Hospital for a post mortem. Harish is suspected to have absconded from the city and police have formed a special team to nab him. 

Speaking to DTNext, a senior police official said that the motive behind the murder was unknown. Nivedhitha is believed to have befriended Harish on Facebook. The duo communicated over phone and through WhatsApp. It is not known whether they had met before. The girl’s family is unaware of Harish. It is suspected that Harish is a pseudo name and his real identity is yet to be established.