Two months after Mylavathi Anand, a senior citizen, was discovered gagged under her own bed and died soon after, police have cracked the case and found her 22-year-old son guilty of the murder.
Girish Anand, who was arrested on Tuesday, has confessed to the crime. He told the cops he killed his mother after she refused to give in to his demand for Rs 10,000.
The incident took place on September 16, but with the needle of suspicion pointing to an insider all along, police wanted to gather as much evidence as possible and build a water-tight case before nailing the accused.
Narrating the chain of events, police said the accused, a diploma holder who was unemployed, had rich friends and constantly needed money to fuel his luxurious lifestyle. On September 15, the wedding anniversary of his parents, he asked his mother for money. Incensed over her refusal, he snatched her gold chain and killed her. He dressed up the crime scene to throw investigators off his trail. But the cops doggedly pursued leads, ultimately leading to his arrest.
Police said the incident came to light on September 16 evening when the victim Mylavathi Anand's daughter came to her parents' place in Vivek Nagar. Anita Anand, who is married and works in a BPO, got concerned as her mother had skipped the daily call to her. On reaching her parents' place, Anita found the house open, but her mother was nowhere to be seen. Her father, Anand, was away at work. Hence, she alerted neighbours and soon the entire neighbourhood was hunting for the 60-year-old. Some members of the search party turned their attention to the house and were shocked to discover the victim bound with saris and gagged under a cot.
Anita and a neighbour loosened the sari tied around her neck. Mylavathi, a former employee of the Karnataka Seeds Corporation, tried to say something, but within minutes she closed her eyes and died.
Vivek Nagar police inspector, Vijay Hadagali, led by Central DCP, Sandeep Patil, started investigating the case.
It was clear that the murder was for gain as two gold chains and cash were missing, though other jewellery worn by the victim, like gold bangles, earrings and finger ring, were intact. Police also found turmeric powder thrown near the main door, indicating an attempt to cover up tracks. Neighbours said they had not heard any sound either. Most intriguing was that the family had a dog, which usually brought the roof down at the sight of a stranger, but residents said they had not heard it bark either.
"We investigated each and every possible angle, and increasingly found it difficult to suspect a stranger's hand. The post-mortem report also made us feel someone known to the victim had committed the crime. Finally, we zeroed in on her son, Girish, who confessed to murdering his mother," DCP Patil said.
Hadagali said the first giveaway was that the accused had not taken all the gold on the victim's body. Also, a turmeric powder box was found intact in the kitchen and the powder was thrown in front of the door. The victim had brought a new high-end mobile phone just a few months back and it was missing. Weeks after the murder, it was not used by anyone. Police started checking the tower locations of other numbers too, including that of her son which indicated he had been home till 1.30 pm. This contradicted his version to the cops that he had left home early on the day of the incident.
Further, neighbours told the police that Mylavathi used to come out every day to see off her son, but they had not spotted her that day; instead Girish had stepped out alone in the afternoon.
The next piece of evidence was the post-mortem report which stated the breakfast which she had at 9.30 am was not digested; the report placed her time of death within four hours of her having had breakfast. Armed with this proof, police started grilling her son, and he finally broke down and confessed to the murder.
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