Koushambi (wearing a cap) with her friends

Mumbai, May 16: Manish Thakur may never have imagined that his casual messages to friends on a networking site could have fuelled such anger.

Orkut has been inundated with messages mourning Koushambi Layek, who was murdered at a city hotel, and pouring scorn on Manish, the prime suspect. Both were Orkut members.

“Why did he kill her?” asked Afreen, an Orkutian.

Another said: “Your untimely demise will be avenged Koushambhi. God is there and will punish the criminal…. I curse the criminal and his family who brought so much pain to someone who trusted him. India prays for you today.”

Koushambi, an engineer at Tata Consultancy Services, and Manish had checked into the honeymoon suite, where her body was found in a pool of blood. Manish is a junior commissioned officer undergoing training in the electrical department of the navy’s aeronautical wing.

The website may also provide clues on whether Manish and Koushambi had an affair. One of Manish’s messages — scrap in Orkut parlance — to Satish Subudhi, probably a common friend of the couple, said: “Hiii satish this is manish from navy here remember me. i am koushambi’s -------. we met boss. hw r u.”

That Manish did not clarify his relationship could be an indication of things having gone awry between the two.

Koushambi, too, had not clearly indicated any romantic relationship with Manish. In a testimonial on Orkut, she had said: “He’s a really caring and loving guy.” Her own profile said she loved watching detective serials.

Calls on Manish’s and Satish’s mobile phone numbers, sourced from Orkut, went unanswered.

Another Orkutian Raj Arora appealed to Manish’s friends to reveal his whereabouts to the police. He also asked Manish to surrender and let law take its course.

Several vented their anger at the “waste of a beautiful life”.

There are two communities dedicated to the 24-year-old — Koushambi’s Cry for Justice and Tribute to Koushambi Layek.

But hardly any of Koushambi’s friends (from her Orkut list) have left messages for her, nor have they replied to queries by fellow-users. An exception is Sujeet, who wrote: “It’s too shocking for me. She is one of my cute friends during college days and we were in Mumbai for the past 2 months and didn’t meet a single time.... it hurts me a lot.”

Her friends at TCS, too, have preferred to stay away, not responding to phone calls from journalists.