Maharashtra: 42-year-old woman found murdered in Thane; police look for husband

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A 42-year-old woman was found murdered in her home in Maharashtra's Thane district. The police suspect her husband's role in the crime.

The woman was apparently killed with a laundry bat on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, an official said. The police are looking for her husband, PTI reported. Citing the preliminary investigation, the police said the couple, who lived at Jamghar of Wada taluka, often fought as the man would cast doubts on her character.

A case under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered and a search is on to trace the husband, said the official from Wada police station.

Meanwhile, the police detained a man and five of his family members on Wednesday on the charge of torturing and beating his wife to death at Shahapur in Thane district, an official said. The six accused were detained after a case of cruelty and murder was registered against them based on a complaint lodged by the 27-year-old victim's brother, hours after her death on Tuesday night, he said.

"The man, his parents and other family members were detained and interrogation was underway following a complaint against them. So far, we have not placed them under arrest," the official of Shahapur police station said, adding that the accused are residents of Borpada in Shahapur taluka.

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"In his complaint, victim Ranjana Shiva Bhavar's brother said her husband and in-laws used to torture and harass her, due to which she had consumed poison in 2022. She had survived the suicide attempt at that time. The couple has two children - a daughter aged three-and-a-half years and a son below two years of age," he added. Even after the previous incident, the woman's husband and in-laws continued to harass her. She used to regularly complain about it to the complainant and others, the police official said.

According to the official, on Tuesday night, the woman's in-laws informed her brother that she died due to injuries after falling down. "The body was sent to a government hospital for autopsy. The complaint said that there were multiple injury marks on the victim, including her face, forehead and neck. There were injury marks on her minor son as well," the official said.

The accused - identified as Shiva Kalu Bhavar, Savitri Kalu Bhavar, Kalu Maidu Bhavar, Gajmal Kalu Bhavar, Bendu Kalu Bhavar and Atya Kalu Bhavar - were charged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 302 (murder), 498A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty), and 34 (common intention), and later detained, the police said. (With inputs from PTI)