Surat:
Last week, 40-year-old Vishal Salvi walked into a Godadara police station in Gujarat’s Surat to report that his wife, Shilpa Salvi, had gone missing. He claimed his wife, a 39-year-old dietitian, was last seen four days earlier. But what began as a routine missing person investigation took a dramatic turn when Vishal Salvi himself went missing two days later.
He left behind a chit, a vague confession of his crime, which led police to an abandoned, dilapidated house in the city’s Salabatpura area with a mysterious wooden box. When police opened the box, they found Shilpa’s body decomposing in a mixture of foam and cement. Police later traced the husband from a rural area on the outskirts of the city and detained him.
A Marriage That Turned Sour
According to police, Shilpa and Vishal got married in 2010. They had two sons — aged 13 and eight. Shilpa held an MSc degree in food and nutrition and used to work as a dietitian at the corporation-run Surat Municipal Institute of Medical Education and Research. She reportedly opened her own clinic recently. Vishal, on the other hand, used to work at a diamond polishing factory and was jobless for the past few years.
“They quarrel regularly, and Vishal suspected Shilpa was having an affair. She would refuse to let him check her mobile phone, leading to frequent altercations,” police said.
A Confession
After Vishal went missing, his minor son found a “chit” and handed it over to the police. The note contained a confession-like message stating that he “committed a crime” and his wife’s body was in his “ancestral home at Salabatpura”.
“I wish to state that the initial days following my marriage were pleasant. However, just three years into the marriage, my wife began to undergo a change in behaviour; from that point onwards, doubts began to arise regarding our marital relationship. After enduring this situation and exercising patience for so many years, I could bear it no longer. I was ultimately driven by desperation and compelled to commit a crime,” the letter read.
“I alone am responsible for the crime I have committed. No other individual had any knowledge of this matter. I personally executed every step (the entire modus operandi) of this crime. The evidence pertaining to the crime I committed on April 20, 2026, is located at my oldest place of residence: a corrugated-sheet house situated on the first floor of a locked dwelling within the lane of the ‘Lakdi Wale Building’ (Wooden Building), at Kagji Ki Chal, near Sahara Darwaza. My wife, Shilpa, is inside that house. I alone bear full responsibility for having committed this crime,” the note further read.
The discovery of the letter gave a new direction to the investigation. When the police reached Salabatpura, they found a dilapidated house. But what stuck out was a wooden box, covered in fresh cement. When police forced open the box, they found a decomposing body inside.
Initial medical examination confirmed that the woman died some four to five days ago, before she was buried in the cement and foam mixture to conceal the smell of rotting flesh.
“A missing report was filed two days ago at Guhagar Police Station for a woman named Shilpa Vishal Salvi, who was 39 years old. Her husband filed the report stating that she was missing for four days,” said Surat DCP Kanan Desai.
“Yesterday, the husband wrote a letter saying that he had committed a mistake and his wife is no more. Upon receiving the message, the police started their primary investigation. The husband left behind the letter and fled. Police investigated his old house in Salabatpura, where they found the body of Shilpa. The parents of Shilpa were called, and an FIR was launched at Sabalpura Police Station… We are further investigating the matter,” he added.
Police have now registered a case of murder against Vishal on the complaint of Shilpa’s father, Pradip Kosta, and detained him. Further investigation is underway.