Monetary dispute: Mumbai woman kills pregnant housewife, hides body inside bed
The Dahisar police on Wednesday arrested a 22-year-old woman for murdering a pregnant housewife in Borivali (east) over a monetary dispute
The Dahisar police on Wednesday arrested a 22-year-old woman for murdering a pregnant housewife in Borivali (east) over a monetary dispute. The accused strangled the victim, slashed her throat and then dumped the body in the cavity of the bed. To avoid suspicion, the accused then slashed her arms and cooked up a story of an attack by a man. The police, however, sensed something amiss and detected the case.
The fight started over Rs. 20,000 which the accused, Ujwala Veer had borrowed from the victim Preeti Bhagekar’s husband, ended in the latter’s death in a ‘maniacal killing’, officers added.
A three-month pregnant Bhagekar used to stay in Kajupada chawl in Borivali (east) with her husband Prashant, a driver. Veer was her Bhagekar’s neighbour. Veer had borrowed the money from Prashant. When she had failed to return the money on time, Preeti Bhagekar kept asking her to repay the loan.
On Wednesday afternoon, the two women met at a bus stop near their residence and Veer took Bhagekar to her house. Apart from the two women, Veer’s mother – who is paralysed, was present in the room. As both the women started discussing when Veer would repay the loan, they got embroiled in a fight.
“Veer lost her temper and strangled Bhagekar with a rope. She then smothered her and then slashed a knife across her throat. As the bleeding woman struggled, Veer struck her repeatedly on the head with an iron rod,” said Prakash Jadhav, senior inspector at Dahisar police station.
Veer then stuffed Bhagekar’s body in the cavity of her bed, Jadhav added. “She sat on the bed for the next three hours wondering what to do,” Jadhav said.
Fearing she would be caught for murdering, Veer slashed her arms with the knife and then rushed to Bhagekar’s husband. She told him that a man attacked her and Bhagekar while they were at the former’s residence, officers said.
Meanwhile, Veer’s sister had reached (Veer’s) home and upon finding bloodstains on the floor, called up the Mumbai police control room, said the officers. The police reached Veer’s residence and began questioning her for hours. Veer, finally, confessed to the murder, and the police then found the body in the cavity of the bed.
The police have arrested Veer on the charges of murder. Police have also learnt that the accused and Bhagekar’s husband Prashant were in a relationship in the past.
The women had got into a fight on the same issue in the past as well, the officials added. Veer will be produced in the metropolitan court on Friday.