54-Year-Old Woman Found Dead in Bhiwandi Building Elevator Shaft

A 54-year-old woman working as a domestic helper has been found dead inside the elevator shaft of an unauthorised residential building in the Dhobi Talao area of Bhiwandi, located in Maharashtra's Thane district, police officials said on Wednesday.

The victim was identified by authorities as Shaheen Shaikh, a widow who was supporting her four children as their family's sole breadwinner. Shaikh had gone missing on Monday evening while she was on her way home in Bhiwandi.

When Shaikh did not return home, her family members searched for her across the locality. After being unable to find her anywhere, the family approached the local police and lodged an official missing person's report.

On Tuesday, Shaikh's body was discovered lying beneath the lift mechanism at Rabia Apartment, a seven-storey building situated in the Dhobi Talao area of Bhiwandi, a police official confirmed.

The Bhoiwada police have registered an accidental death report regarding the case and sent her body for an official post-mortem examination in order to determine and establish the exact cause of her death.

While preliminary inquiries by the police suspect that she suffered an accidental fall into the lift shaft, Inspector Deepak Jadhav said that more details and clarity surrounding the incident will be available once the forensic test results are received by the investigating team.

Following the discovery, civic officials revealed that the seven-storey Rabia Apartment building was an unauthorised structure.

Ward in-charge Arvind Ghughare stated that official notices were being served to the owner of the unauthorised building. The civic administration is initiating an inquiry into critical maintenance failures, structural flaws, and technical defects present in the building's elevator system.