Man assaults, burns ex-mother-in-law and himself to death

A 75-year-old woman was allegedly killed by her daughter's ex-husband in Mulund East, who also died from burns in the incident.

MUMBAI: A 75-year-old woman was allegedly assaulted with a hammer and burnt to death by the ex-husband of her daughter in Mulund East on Monday. The accused, 55-year-old Krishna Daji Hastankar, set his ex-mother-in-law, Babi Daji Husare, ablaze in a tempo and also died from severe burn injuries as he did not exit the vehicle in time, the police said. The police suspect Hastankar killed Husare because he thought she was to blame for ending his marriage.

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During the investigation, the police learnt that Husare’s daughter had divorced Hastankar around a decade ago and started living at her mother’s home in Mulund East along with their son, who’s now 20 years old.

Hastankar, however, used to visit their place to meet his ex-wife and son, which led to fights with Husare, said a police officer. The police suspect he then decided to kill Husare because he felt that she had provoked her daughter to divorce him.

According to the police, Hastankar, who worked as a driver, visited Husare’s house in the Nanepada area of Mulund East around 8 am on Monday to take her to the hospital for a checkup. CCTV cameras installed near Husare’s house showed her and Hastankar approaching his tempo, which he had parked around 100 meters away from her home, said a police officer.

Hastankar allegedly made Husare sit at the back of the tempo, before entering it himself and locking it from inside. He then allegedly hit Husare with a hammer on the head three to four times to make her unconscious, before pouring kerosene on her and burning her to death. However, Hastankar also got burnt to death inside the tempo, said senior inspector Suresh Madane of the Navghar police station.

Once passersby noticed flames inside the tempo, they called the fire brigade and the police. After dousing the fire, officials found a hammer, a kerosene bottle and a lighter inside the tempo, said Madane.

The postmortem reports suggested that Husare died due to head injuries and 100% burns. There were three to four head injuries found on her that were not natural, which showed that the accused allegedly first hit her on the head with a hammer and then burnt her, said Madane. He also died due to 100% burn injuries as per the postmortem report, added Madane.

Hastankar’s ex-wife was not at home at the time of the incident. Her son, however, was at home and the police recorded his statement. An FIR was registered against Hastankar under sections 103 (murder) and 238 (destroying evidence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, said Madane.