New Delhi:
A 65-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly plotting the murder of her daughter-in-law and paying Rs 3 lakhs to her househelp and her family for helping her commit the crime in Mumbai.
The incident took place last week when the victim, Sapna Ganji, was found dead in her house in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar area.
According to the police, the accused, identified as Dhanalakshmi Ganji, paid Rs 3 lakhs to her househelp and her family to commit the crime. After the woman was killed, an attempt was made to destroy the evidence and make Sapna’s death look like an accident. At around midnight, Sapna’s father-in-law called her father to inform him that their daughter had “fallen in the bathroom and suffered a serious head injury”.
When he reached the hospital, doctors had already declared Sapna dead.
Sapna’s father found a deep injury on her head when he saw the body, along with deep marks of assault on her face, neck, and shoulders. This led to his suspicion that his daughter may not have died due to an accident.
He then filed a complaint with the police.
The accused mother-in-law 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 househelp, to carry out the murder as she was angry over Sapna filing a domestic violence case against them.
Sapna got married to Pramod Ganji in 2013. 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.
In August 2024, Pramod and his family apologised to Sapna for their past mistakes and promised not to cause her any trouble in the future. Following this agreement, Sapna and her husband moved into a separate house in Vikhroli. However, after some time, they returned to their Ghatkopar home.
The police have arrested five people in the case so far – the accused’s mother-in-law, her househelp Mangalabai Suresh Jadhav, househelp’s husband Suresh Ganpat Jadhav, and their two children – Shivani Suresh Jadhav and Sajan Suresh Jadhav.
(With inputs from Hrithik Ganakwar)
