Indrani Mukerjea trial: Witness says Sheena, brother Mikhail had property dispute

A witness reported before a special CBI court in Mumbai that Sheena Bora and her brother Mikhail had a property dispute and that between 2012 and 2015, Mikhail made her and another friend believe that “Sheena was very well alive after 2012.”

The case relates to the 2012 killing of 25-year-old Sheena Bora, allegedly by her mother Indrani Mukerjea along with two of her former husbands. The murder came to light in 2015 after an FIR was registered, making it one of the most high-profile criminal cases of the decade.

According to the CBI, Indrani strangled Sheena and disposed of her body in the jungles of Pen in Raigad district. Indrani, however, has claimed that Sheena left the family homes in Mumbai and Guwahati and settled down elsewhere of her own will.

WITNESS TESTIMONY

The latest witness, a close friend of Sheena from Guwahati, told the court that Mikhail had confided in her that “Sheena was held against her choice at a rehab centre somewhere in Pune by her mother.” She said Mikhail also told her that he had been admitted to a similar centre in the past and had asked her if she could help him rescue Sheena.

“It is correct to say that, from the conversation, we knew that Mikhail was very well aware that Sheena was alive and captive in the rehabilitation centre, Pune, somewhere between 2013 and 2015,” the witness testified.

The witness also recalled that on August 26, 2009, years before Sheena’s disappearance, Sheena had emailed her saying: “There are so many problems and dramas around me I will go mad I am thinking of taking sanyas no worries about work, no worries about renting any place, no worries of money.”

RELATIONSHIP AND FAMILY DYNAMICS

During cross-examination by Indrani’s lawyer Ranjeet Sangle, the witness confirmed that Sheena had told her about her relationship with Rahul Mukerjea, son of media baron Peter Mukerjea, who is also an accused in the case.

She also testified that since their school days, she knew about Sheena’s family dynamics and that Indrani was Sheena’s mother. “I knew that Sheena and Mikhail were adopted by her Nana-Nani. It is correct to say that, therefore, technically and legally, Sheena and Indrani were sisters as Sheena was adopted by her Nana-Nani, i.e. Indrani’s parents,” she said.

The CBI has maintained that Indrani had made Sheena portray herself as her sister rather than her daughter.

PROPERTY DISPUTE

The witness further told the court that “as far as my memory supports, there was a property dispute between Mikhail and Sheena. I am not aware who raised the issue of property. Sheena was not a greedy person. I do not know about Mikhail. There is a possibility that he may be greedy.”

The witness, who is the wife of an armed forces personnel, concluded her deposition. The court will next hear testimony from a new witness produced by the CBI.

- Ends