Woman's decomposed body found in locked Gahunje flat; she had returned from London unknown to family

The decomposed body of a young woman has been found in a locked flat in the upscale Lodha Belmondo society at Gahunje, near Pimpri-Chinchwad. She was Mugdha Avinash Deshmukh, 34, a resident of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar who had gone to London to study. The matter came to light on October 28, when police opened the door of the flat. The news has caused a stir across Maharashtra.

The biggest question is why, after returning from London, Mugdha was living alone in Pune without telling her family. Nobody has an answer yet, and the case is growing more tangled.

Mugdha had taken her degree from COEP in Pune. In July 2025 she went to London for higher studies in an MBA. There she paid for her studies with a part-time job and was in regular touch with her family.

In the last week of August 2026, she left London without telling anyone and returned to India. She did not let her parents have the slightest hint. She began living alone in the Gahunje flat. She taught online MBA students and so rarely left the house. On October 21 she also told the domestic help to stop coming to work.

Mugdha last spoke to her mother on October 23. After that her phone went off and all contact with the family was lost. Between October 24 and 26, the family lodged a police complaint and had inquiries made through a friend of Mugdha's living in London. It then emerged that Mugdha had left London at the end of August.

When they realised their daughter was not in London and was missing, her parents filed a complaint on October 27 at Usmanpura police station in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. Police began investigating through bank transactions and digital evidence, and found Mugdha's location in Pune.

On October 28, the use of a credit card on online food apps confirmed that she was in Pune. Police raided the flat at Lodha Belmondo in Gahunje. The flat was locked from inside, and Mugdha's body lay decomposed within.

Several questions in the case are still unanswered. Why did Mugdha suddenly return from London? Why did she hide from her family that she was in India? Why did she tell the domestic help to stop work three days before her death? And how did she die? Police are currently investigating the case in depth on the basis of digital evidence, bank transactions and the viscera report.