Woman kills mother-in-law over property dispute in Nagpur; three held

Nagpur, Sep 9 (PTI) A 33-year-old woman and her two relatives were arrested on Monday for allegedly murdering her mother-in-law over a property dispute in Maharashtra's Nagpur city, police said on Monday.

The accused woman allegedly paid her two male cousins to carry out the murder, and the 54-year-old victim was strangled on August 28, an official from Ajini police station said.

The accused made it appear like the victim had died of a heart attack, and the murder came to light ten days after the last rites, he said.

Based on a complaint lodged on Sunday, the police arrested Vaishali Akhilesh Raut, her cousins Ritesh Prakash Hiwse (27), and Shrikant alias Sameer Narendra Hiwse (21), both residents of Pandhurna district of Madhya Pradesh, for the murder of Sunita Omkar Raut, a resident of Mitra Nagar, he said.

Neighbours reported injuries on Sunita's body and inconsistencies in the circumstances of her death, the official said.

Sunita had recently sold a plot of land for Rs 60 lakh, which her widowed daughter-in-law had wanted, he said.

The official said investigations found suspicious activity on the accused woman's phone, and some financial transactions suggested foul play.

Vaishali had reportedly paid Rs 2 lakh to her cousins to carry out the murder, he said.

The trio were booked under sections 103(1) (murder) and other relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the official said. PTI COR ARU