After tying her to bed, I took bath and raped her: Monika's killer

Bengaluru, Oct 17: The only accused in Goa-based perfumer Monika Ghurde's coldblooded murder case has finally confessed that he had raped her and spent many hours with her before smothering her.

21-year-old Rajkumar Singh also requested the Bengaluru police not to tell about his crime to his family in Punjab. "I am ready to face everything. But please ensure my family members do not get to know what I've committed. It'll create more problems for them," he said during his confession.

Rajkumar Singh allegedly raped and killed Ghurde at her flat in Sapana Raj Valley Apartment in Sangolda, Goa, in the early hours of October 6. He was angry because she had accused him of stealing an umbrella and that resulted in him losing his job. The fugitive was picked up from a hotel in Bengaluru.

Forcefully entered

He said: "It was around 6.35 pm (on October 5) that I went to her flat and knocked on the door as the bell was not functioning. She shouted "Kaun?" (who), and I said I was the company supervisor. If I'd said I was the security guard, she would not have opened the door. When she did, I showed her the knife and told her not to shout. She screamed out loud and I gag ged her mouth for nearly five minutes. She fell unconscious and I dragged her to the bathroom and then put her on the bed."

Singh said he asked her why she had complained against him, but she denied it. "I told her I've been thrown onto the streets. I lost my job, money and two bags too. All this happened on the day I was to get my salary; they did not pay me at all," Singh said.

Offered ATM cards

Ghurde tried to pacify him by offering him her ATM cards to withdraw money. But Singh said he didn't know how to withdraw cash. "I asked if there was enough balance (in her account). She taught me how to insert the card, select language and to withdraw cash." Singh wondered if he should step out while Ghurde sat with her hands tied.

"I was confused. If I let her go, she would complain. I kept thinking about it and a few hours passed. I had some eggs, had a shave, took a shower and wore her brother's clothes." During this time, he forced himself on her and took a video on the self on her and took a video on the mobile phone. "I thought I would threaten her that it will be made public if she complains to the police. I threatened to put it on YouTube."

The situation took a violent turn."I had told her I had come only for money and not to kill her. If I had to kill, I would have killed her five hours ago. I kept the knife aside and was trying to release her when she picked up the knife. I threw the knife and smothered her. I thought she had fainted. I tied her hands to the bed and walked out of the flat."

Ghurde had tried to change his mind. "She told me she would give me a job, keep me as security guard or personal driver and even her bodyguard. But I told her everyone who has been hit will say these things (referring to her assurances)," Singh told the cops. He claimed to have obtained a SIM card from a beggar by paying Rs 1,000 and wanted to check with the security staff at Ghurde's apartment about what had happened.