A woman who had moved to the UK last year to pursue higher studies secretly returned to India without informing her family and was later found dead in her rented apartment in Pune. Shockingly, her parents, who believed she was still living in London, discovered that she had returned to India only after noticing food delivery and online service transactions in her bank statements.
By the time the family began suspecting that something was wrong and managed to trace her location, she had already died.
What makes the case more puzzling is that police have found no visible injury marks on her body. The post-mortem examination has also not established the exact cause of death, leaving several questions about the circumstances surrounding her death unanswered.
The deceased has been identified as 34-year-old Mugdha Avinash Deshmukh, a native of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. She was found dead inside her rented apartment on Thursday.
Mugdha had moved to London in July 2025 to pursue an MBA. Her family believed that she was continuing her studies in the UK and remained in touch with her through phone calls and messages.
However, without informing her parents, Mugdha returned to India in August 2026. Instead of going back to her hometown, she moved to Pune, where she had already rented an apartment in April.
According to the police, although she had taken the apartment on rent several months earlier, she began staying there only after returning from the UK in August.
Her family remained unaware of her return and continued believing that she was in London.
The mystery surrounding Mugdha’s whereabouts began on October 24, when her family was unable to contact her. Her mobile phone remained switched off, and repeated attempts to reach her did not receive any response.
Concerned about her sudden disappearance, her father contacted one of her friends in London to find out whether they had heard from her.
The friend informed him that the last communication with Mugdha had taken place on October 22. The friend also approached the London police to report her missing.
However, the information received from the UK authorities added another unexpected development. They reportedly informed the friend that Mugdha had left the UK around the end of August.
This was the first indication that she might no longer be in London, contrary to what her family had believed.
Her father then began checking her financial records in an attempt to establish where she could have gone.
While examining her bank statements, he noticed transactions linked to food delivery and online service platforms between October 8 and October 25. One of the transactions was suspected to have originated from the Osmanpura area of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
After discovering the transactions, the family approached the Crime Branch in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar for assistance in tracing her whereabouts.
They also contacted Indian authorities and the Indian High Commission as they tried to establish when and how Mugdha had returned to the country.
Her location was traced to the apartment she was living. With the help of a locksmith, police entered the rented flat. What they discovered inside was devastating for the family. Mugdha was found dead in the apartment on Thursday.
The woman, whose family had been trying to locate her after believing she was thousands of kilometres away in London, had been living in Pune since her return to India.
The circumstances surrounding Mugdha’s death have raised questions, particularly because police have not found visible injury marks on her body.
The post-mortem examination has so far failed to establish the exact cause of death. Samples from her internal organs have been preserved for further medical examination to determine what may have led to her death.
Police are also trying to establish what happened inside the apartment before she was found dead.
One of the biggest unanswered questions in the case is why Mugdha returned to India without informing her parents, despite remaining in contact with them while they believed she was studying in London.
