Woman Perfumer Found Nude and Dead in Her Room, Rape Before Murder Suspected

High-profile perfume specialist Monica Ghurde was found dead in her flat on Friday evening. Banking on a few leads, Goa Police has sent teams to neighbouring states to nab the absconding accused .

The 39-year-old photographer-turned perfumer was found dead in her rented flat in posh Sangolda village on October 6. Police suspect that she was raped and murdered somewhere between October 5 afternoon and night, as she had not been in touch with anyone since that time. The cops are ruling out robbery as nothing was missing from the flat raising suspicions that the killer might have been known to Monica.

"We will be able to crack this case soon. We are working on different theories. Yesterday, we have sent teams to different locations including neighbouring states," Deputy Inspector General of Police Vimal Gupta said.

Monica Ghurde originally hailed from Nagpur and was married to a photographer Bharat Ramamrutam from Tamil Nadu. Last year, she separated from her husband and began living alone in Goa.

The murder came to light when the maid who came around 9 AM on October 6 found that the door was locked. When Monica did not open it despite repeated knocks she raised an alarm. The maid later informed Monica's brother (Anand, based in Mumbai) who in turn called her husband (Bharat) and then her neighbour, an American woman who had spare keys. Later, they opened the door and found the body lying without clothes. A case has been registered under section 302 (murder) of the IPC.

The perfumer, who was a regular on Goa's social circuit is said to have met Ramamrutham in Mumbai while she was a photographer. She had done her photography course from Mumbai's JJ Institute of Applied Arts. Subsequently, she moved to Chennai in 2009 to pursue her interest in perfumes, and later shifted to Goa in 2011. Monika had set up her perfume-making company Mo Lab, and was also researching perfumery. She collaborated with eminent designers such as Jean Francois Lesage, Christian Louboutin and Anand Kabra.