Rajkot: The Nov 28 murder of a 64-year-old woman, the mother of a deputy mamlatdar, was allegedly perpetrated by her son-in-law. He was driven by resentment as he thought she was the cause of his marital discord.
On Friday, Amreli police arrested Nayan Joshi (34) for the murder of Prabha Teriya, whose son works in the civil supplies department as an inspector. Joshi, a farmer, executed the killing in a vicious manner, destroying most of the old woman's head with a billhook in Jaswantgadh village.
According to police, Joshi showed no signs of distress at the funerary rites, including the condolence meeting, and maintained an unnaturally composed demeanour. The police formed 14 teams for investigation. In surveillance footage, they saw a suspicious man on a motorcycle near the victim's home. The person was wearing a scarf and cape at midday, which investigators found highly unusual. The suspect was seen carrying an angled bag, believed to contain the murder weapon. Police identified the motorcycle as a 2014 model.
"There was no forced entry, which pointed to the murderer being somebody familiar to the victim. Nothing was stolen from the house. We began to look for the 2014 model motorcycle among guests of the family at the funerary rituals," said Amreli Superintendent of Police (SP) Himkar Singh. The suspect was tracked to Kukavav, where he cleaned his weapon near a gaushala. Police also found an identical motorcycle among the vehicles at the victim's residence and found that its owner was Joshi, the victim's son-in-law.
"A search of his house at Bavna Jbunda village in Visavadar taluka of Junagadh district revealed blood-stained clothing, the cape, scarf, and the murder weapon. He went to Jaswantgadh with intent to murder," Singh added.
Joshi was married to the woman's daughter for 11 years, but the couple's relationship was marked by frequent disputes. His wife would regularly seek refuge at her parents' home after the quarrels. The accused felt his mother-in-law consistently backed his wife's position and aggravated their marital problems and decided to eliminate her.