Palanpur: In a broad daylight crime, a 67-year-old woman was murdered and robbed of valuables in her house at Krushna Nagar Society in Behcharpura area of the town on Wednesday.
The woman Rama Hajipara was the wife of a retired State Bank of India (SBI) employee Lakshmichand Hajipara. The crime happened sometime between 9:30am and 11:45am when she was alone at house. The assailants went on the first floor of the house where she lived and smothered her mouth with a piece of cloth. She died of asphyxiation. When Hajipara returned, he saw her lying on the floor in the kitchen. Her body was sent for postmortem.
Neeraj Badgujar, Banaskantha superintendent of police, said that the robbers even took away the ornaments she had worn as well as cash and valuables by breaking one of the cupboards. However, the value of the stolen goods is still being ascertained.
The couple’s three children including a daughter are married and live separately. One son is settled abroad while another son is in Mumbai. Their daughter lives in Ahmedabad.
Police at the woman’s house