Woman kills 16-yr-old daughter over suspicion of sexual ties with husband

NAVI MUMBAI: ACCORDING TO THE POLICE, THE WOMAN STRANGLED HER MINOR DAUGHTER WITH A DUPATTA WHEN THE TWO WERE ALONE AT HOME

A 36-year-old woman from an upscale residential society in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, has been arrested on charges of killing her daughter after she got suspicious that the 16-year-old was involved in a sexual relationship with her father.

The Kharghar police said the crime took place on March 4, and that investigations are underway to determine the father’s role in the entire incident, including whether he had sexually assaulted his minor daughter. The father, a civil contractor by profession, has not been arrested so far.

A senior police officer said: “We are not certain if the woman’s suspicion was true. There may be some other reason behind the murder.”

According to the police, the woman strangled her daughter with a dupatta on March 4, when the two were alone at home. She then called her husband and told him the girl was not well. However, on reaching home, he found her dead. Meanwhile, some of their neighbours alerted the police about the incident.

“We saw some marks on the deceased’s neck that day itself, but due to lack of concrete evidence, we registered a case of accidental death case. We then sent the body for post-mortem. The report has confirmed that the deceased was strangled to death,” said Dilip Kale, senior police inspector of Kharghar police station.

After the post-mortem the police handed over the victim’s body to her parents, who then went to their native place in Rajasthan to conduct the final rites.

By the time they returned, the post-mortem report had come in, confirming that the teenager had been murdered. “When they returned on Wednesday [March 21], we summoned them for interrogation. The woman confessed to having committed the crime, so we have arrested her,” Kale said.