PATNA: A 33-year-old woman attempted to commit suicide after allegedly killing her mother-in-law, 55, by stabbing her in the head and gouging out one of her eyes at a village near Parsa Bazaar in Patna on Tuesday.
Police said Lalita Devi sustained 40% burns as she attempted to immolate herself after killing her mother-in-law Dharmshila Devi. The daughter-in-law is undergoing treatment at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH).
The incident took place around 9.30 am when the deceased’s husband and her son were not at home. Villagers informed the police about the murder and suicide attempt.
Assistant SP (Patna Sadar) Sandeep Singh on Wednesday told TOI over the phone that Lalita was not being able to conceive even after several years of marriage.
“It has surfaced that Dharmashila Devi used to have frequent fights with Lalita on the issue and taunted her for not having a child. These fights may have resulted in Tuesday’s murder,” he added.
Singh said police found Dharmashila’s body lying on the floor in a pool of blood with multiple injuries on the head. “Prima facie, the injuries seem to be the result of being hit hard by a blunt object. One of her eyes were also gauged out,” he added.
The ASP said a blood-stained knife and the gauged-out eye was lying next to the body on the floor.
He said Dharmashila’s husband Ram Kumar has lodged an FIR against Lalita alleging that his daughter-in-law killed his wife.
Singh said the injured woman has not been arrested yet as she is undergoing treatment. “Investigation is and on and necessary action will be taken against Lalita,” he added.
Parsa Bazaar police station SHO Sanjay Kumar said villagers were the first to inform police about the incident. “Soon after reaching the spot, police sent injured Lalita to hospital in an ambulance which was incidentally there in the village,” he added.