A 65-year-old woman was arrested in Mumbai for allegedly plotting the murder of her daughter-in-law and paying Rs. 3 lakh to her house help and her family to carry out the crime, according to the Mumbai Police as reported by NDTV.
The incident took place when the victim, identified as Sapna Ganji, was found dead at her home in Ghatkopar last week.
According to the police account cited by NDTV, Sapna's in-laws initially claimed that she had consumed alcohol, created a disturbance and later fell in the bathroom, sustaining a fatal head injury.
At around midnight, Sapna's father-in-law called her father, Rajendra Vallal, to inform him that his daughter had "fallen in the bathroom and suffered a serious head injury". When he reached the hospital, doctors had already declared Sapna dead.
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Vallal subsequently raised suspicions after seeing what he described as a major injury on the back of Sapna's head, along with marks and bruises on her face, neck and shoulder, according to his police complaint cited by the Times of India.
NDTV reported that according to the police, the accused mother-in-law, who has been identified as Dhanalakshmi Ganji, had initially fabricated a story that her daughter-in-law was drunk and died after an accidental fall in the bathroom.
However, investigation revealed that the accused had paid four people, including her house help, to carry out the murder as she was angry over Sapna filing a domestic violence case against them.
Sapna got married to her husband, Pramod Ganji, in 2013. NDTV reported that while everything went well for the first two years of their marriage, Pramod and his family - mother, father, and two brothers - began to mentally and physically abuse her.
Fed up with the daily taunts and beatings, Sapna had filed a case against her in-laws for domestic violence, outraging modesty, assault, and death threats two years ago. The case had been pending in court.
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The report further stated that in August 2024, Pramod and his family had apologised to Sapna and promised not to trouble her, following which Sapna and her husband moved to a separate house in Vikhroli before eventually returning to their Ghatkopar residence.
Mumbai Police have arrested five people so far in connection with the case, including Dhanalakshmi, her former house help Mangalabai suresh Jadhav, Mangalabai's husband Suresh Ganpat Jadhav, and their two children, Shivani Suresh Jadhav and Sajan Suresh Jadhav, NDTV reported.
As per the current status, the police investigation remains underway and no allegations have been proven in a court of law.
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