Residents of Saujanya Apartment in Andheri are in no mood to forgive the Maroliyas.
Harish Maroliya, 57, shot dead Hemini Mehta, 14, on Thursday in a fit of rage following an argument over an ongoing repair work in the building. Maroliya was killed in police crossfire.
On Friday, society members boycotted the family and did not allow them to bring Maroliya’s body inside the building. After a post-mortem at JJ Hospital, his last rites were performed at a cemetery in Santa Cruz.
Security guards have been deployed at the building’s entrance and they have been instructed to check the credentials of anyone trying to get in. “The fear is palpable,” Romil Patni, son of the building’s general secretary, said. “We are all shocked. It will take some time for things to become normal.”
Several visitors, including policemen and relatives, gathered at the Mehta household after Hemini’s body was brought in the morning. Her last rites were performed at the Oshiwara cemetery. The media was not allowed inside the building though.
“We knew Maroliya was hot-tempered,” a resident said. “But no one imagined he would shoot dead someone.”
Investigations: “Preliminary investigations revealed that Maroliya fired eight rounds and the police one round,” Amitabh Gupta, additional commissioner of police (Western region), said.
A team from the Kalina Forensic Science Laboratory visited the spot on Friday to collect forensic evidence. Another officer said a person with a gun licence could keep up to 250 live cartridges. Several live cartridges were seized from the Maroliya household.
Autopsy: Doctors from the department of forensic medicine at JJ Hospital conducted an autopsy on Hemini Mehta and Harish Maroliya on Thursday night.
Both Mehta and Maroliya died of single firearm injuries. Dr SD Nanandkar, the forensic medicine department head, said the injuries led to haemorrhage and subsequent death.
The bullets have been sent to the Kalina laboratory. “We have sent patches of the skin with bullet injuries to determine the firing range.”
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