Car was towed, body discovered.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: An Indian American woman who was missing for 11 days was found last week in her own car, buried under a pile of clothes and hidden so well that even when her car was towed, the workers did not even notice that there was a body right in the front seat.
Nadia Malik was 22 when she passed away sometime earlier this month in her gray 2007 Nissan Altima sedan. According to Philadelphia police, she had been missing since February 10, and on February 14, her car had been towed from its original parking spot to somewhere near the city’s 30th Street train station – while she was inside. When Malik’s body was found days later, there were also several parking tickets on the car.
Malik, who lived in the Marple Township just outside Philadelphia, was sitting in the driver’s seat of the car, slouched over so that she was resting on the passenger seat, while her gym bag and several clothes had fallen on her in such a way that no one could tell she was inside. The windows of the car were also heavily tinted, and the car was also covered by heavy amounts of snow, which contributed to why so many workers interacted with the vehicle but failed to see the young mother of two’s dead body lying within.
She had two small children, their ages and names as yet unreleased, and had a testy relationship with her boyfriend, Bhupinder Singh, the 25 year-old father of the children who apparently fled to Ohio to live with his parents after briefly visiting a relative of his in New York City. There is no allegation yet that Singh left for his parents’ home as a result of Malik’s death, and one of their two preschool-aged children does live with him while the other lived with Malik in the Philadelphia area.
The couple also had a third child, who died very young back in 2012 of as-yet undetermined reasons. An investigation into the death of that child was closed, but has now been opened up again as a result of the mother’s unfortunate demise.
Singh has been arrested by police for leaving the state, which is a violation of his parole. According to reports, he was trying to flee out the back of his parents’ home in Solon, Ohio, when he was taken into custody. He took a bus to get to Ohio from New York City. Singh’s prior run-ins with the law include convictions for drunken driving, as well as arrests for assault and making terroristic threats. After spending time in a Cleveland jail, he will be sent back to Pennsylvania sometime this week.
Reports indicate that the relationship between Singh and Malik was abusive; as recently as February 9, phone records show that Malik made calls to her brother and a friend of hers, saying that Singh was holding her against her will and was perhaps threatening her in some way. Police, however, say there’s been no sign of foul play found at the crime scene, and that toxicology reports are still forthcoming. Police have said there is no obvious sign of trauma but cannot definitively state the cause of death.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com