The Malad police on Saturday arrested a 42-year-old housemaid, her lover and his son for allegedly murdering the maid’s employer — a 69-year-old woman — in her Malad residence earlier this week. The trio brutally killed the elderly woman by forcing her head inside a bucket full of water, and fled after stealing valuables from the house.

According to the Malad police, the accused have been identified as Shabnam Shaikh, 42, Umar Shaikh, 71, and Shehzad Shaikh, 22. Shabnam used to work as domestic help for Marie D’Costa, 69, who stayed with her grandson Neel Raybole, 26, in the New Life Cooperative Housing Society in Malad. The police said that D’costa had taken Shabnam in 15 years ago after finding her on the streets. She was a trusted servant, to the extent that Raybole would pick her up and drop her every day, as she had a deformity in one leg.