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Murder, gold and live-ins: Jhansi woman’s chilling plot to kill mother-in-law

What began as a dispute over a family land turned out to be an intricate web of marriages, multiple live-in relationships and a cold-blooded murder.

Published on: Jul 2, 2025, 18:26:29 IST
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In a shocking incident from Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi, a 29-year-old woman is at the centre of a sensational murder of her mother-in-law following a gold theft.

The incident happened in Kumhariya village in Jhansi district, when Sushila Devi was found murdered in her home on June 24. (For representation)
The incident happened in Kumhariya village in Jhansi district, when Sushila Devi was found murdered in her home on June 24. (For representation)

What began as a dispute over a family land turned out to be an intricate web of marriages, multiple live-in relationships and a cold-blooded murder. The UP Police has arrested the prime accused, Pooja, her sister, Kamla and Kamla's lover Anil Verma for the murder of 54-year-old Sushila Devi, NDTV reported.

Puja and her two accomplices plotted the murder of her mother-in-law and looted her jewellery worth 8 lakh and get her share of ancestral land, the police said.

How did the crime unfold?

The incident happened in Kumhariya village in Jhansi district, when Sushila Devi was found murdered in her home on June 24. The victim was found in mysterious circumstances, and the police suspected it to be a possible case of robbery, the report said.

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When the police arrived at the crime scene, the house was found ransacked and jewellery estimated to be around 8 lakh was missing, along with a motorbike and a country-made pistol.

The case took a dramatic turn when Sushila’s daughter-in-law, Puja, was also missing after the crime. The police started collecting evident, recorded witness statements and interrogated members of the family, according to a report in News18.

Within 48 hours, the cops identified the key suspects in the case, and soon after, Puja was taken into custody along with her sister Kamla. The police also arrested Kamala's lover, Anil Verma, who was intercepted while trying to sell the stolen ornaments to a relative.

Live-in relationships and deaths

Following Sushila Devi's death, the police unveiled that the crime stemmed from a prolonged domestic dispute involving inheritance and land.

The police said the prime accused Puja was in a live-in relationship with her brother-in-law Kalyan Singh, after her husband's death.

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Following Kalyan's death, she moved to her ancestral home in Kumhariya, following which she began a relationship with her brother-in-law, Santosh, who was already married. She also had a daughter from the relationship. The police said they have started the investigation into the deaths of the brother-in-law.

The cops have also revealed that Puja wanted to sell the 18 bighas of the ancestral land. Though the land belonged to Puja's husband Kalyan, the land was under family control.

While the family members were willing to give her a share, Sushila stood in opposition to the decision to sell the land. It was then that she decided to eliminate her mother-in-law and take control of the land. Puja confessed to having hatched the plan and looting the gold jewellery after the murder before fleeing from the scene.

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