Missing mangalsutra found near window in victim’s home

Whoever took it may have thrown it in, says police official

Sharda Mali.

The mangalsutra , the loss of which led to the death of a 55-year-old woman in Panvel, has been found in the same room from where it went missing.

Sharda Govind Mali (55) from Dundre village in Panvel died in suspicious circumstances last week, and four people have been arrested in the case.

“Her daughter-in-law has found the

mangalsutra lying behind a gas cylinder kept near a window. There is a chance that whoever might have taken it would have thrown it inside,” senior inspector Ashok Rajput from Panvel Taluka police station said.

Mali had purchased the

mangalsutra last Monday and shown it to her neighbours. When it disappeared, she blamed a minor girl, who was among the group that saw it, of taking it.

The girl’s parents and two other neighbours, Vanabai Arjun Davane and Hanuman Bhagwan Patil, had allegedly started a fight with Mali and abused her for blaming the minor. They also forced Mali and her family to take a pledge in a temple saying that whoever had taken the mangalsutra would die the next day.

The next morning, they abused Mali and threatened that god would take her life. Later in the day, Mali’s daughter-in-law Roshni found her dead in her house. Mali’s son Vishwas filed an abetment to suicide complaint against the four neighbours and the minor with the Panvel Taluka police.

After the post-mortem, doctors had reserved the cause of death. The police, finding discrepancies, added murder charges to the case and arrested the four neighbours on Friday.

“All the arrested are still in custody and the minor is yet to be detained. We are awaiting a chemical analysis report of the deceased and a clear post-mortem report,” Mr. Rajput said.