Son-in-law arrested for murdering 90-year-old woman over money dispute

According to the Uran police, the woman was found dead at her home in Bhom village earlier this month

NAVI MUMBAI: In a shocking twist of affairs, on Monday, the police arrested a 49-year-old man for allegedly murdering his 90-year-old mother-in-law, in a case that was initially assumed to be a natural or accidental death.

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According to the Uran police, the woman was found dead at her home in Bhom village earlier this month. The family was preparing for her cremation when an emergency call prompted the police to take a closer look. “If not for the 112 call, the case would have gone undetected, as the family had no complaints and the body was to be cremated without a post-mortem,” a police officer said.

Once the post-mortem was conducted, it revealed multiple grievous injuries consistent with assault. Wooden planks recovered from the house further suggested foul play, leading the police to treat the case as a homicide and register an FIR on November 7.

Investigations revealed that the victim lived alone and had recently received about ₹15 lakh from a land sale, portions of which she had distributed among her daughters. Her son-in-law had allegedly been demanding more money. On the day of the incident, he allegedly confronted her about buying a gold chain and accused her of hiding it from her daughters. “This escalated into a violent altercation in which she was assaulted with wooden planks,” the police said.

The police also noticed inconsistencies in the son-in-law’s statements. The police noted that the accused was one the only family members strongly opposing the post-mortem, and suspicious behaviour led to his arrest.

The accused has been remanded to police custody till November 27.