Delhi Woman Kills Mother-In-Law Due To Longstanding Feud Over Household Chores

A 48-year-old South Delhi woman has been arrested for killing her 86-year-old mother-in-law by attacking her with a utensil. The motive behind the murder stems from long-standing frustrations regarding caregiving responsibilities such as cooking and household chores.

The police said that no immediate reason that triggered the attack has been found as of now. The daughter-in-law was identified as Sharmishta Som. Police sources said that on April 28, a man reported that his friend’s mother had collapsed in her apartment and was profusely bleeding.

Delhi Woman Kills Mother-In-Law

A police team rushed to the spot and found the mother-in-law, Hanshi Som, lying on the kitchen floor with multiple injuries to her skull and face. Her son, Surajit Som, 51, has been living in the Neb Serai area with his wife and daughter since 2014.

Hailing from Kolkata, the mother-in-law, Hanshi Som, had been living alone until March 2022. Considering his mother’s well-being, Surajit Som had arranged for her to stay in a rented flat opposite his own. Surajit told the police that his mother has been suffering from arthritis, which has affected her mobility. In October 2022, she fell in the bathroom due to the elevated structure. So he had moved her to a rented flat that had an accessible bathroom and kitchen.

The police also took note of the photos of the previous bathroom incident presented by Surajit. During the investigation, police found a CCTV camera on a table next to the bed. However, no storage device was found, and the police seized it. Surajit explained that he had installed the camera to monitor his mother’s activities and that he had access to the camera on his phone.

However, Surajit claimed that on the day of the killing, the camera wasn’t functioning due to a power failure. Family members and neighbours raised no suspicion of any foul play.

The 86-year-old woman’s body was shifted to the mortuary, and a postmortem was conducted on April 29. The report stated that the injuries were unlikely to have occurred under normal circumstances. On further investigation, Surajit’s daughter revealed that her mother and grandmother did not share an amicable relationship. She added that her mother disliked her grandmother, and this was confirmed by Surajit.

On the day of the incident, the deceased’s house was locked from the outside, and the keys were found inside Sharmishta’s flat. Later, Surajit admitted that he had removed the memory card from the CCTV camera before notifying the police.

On watching the CCTV footage, it was observed that Sharmistha entered her mother-in-law’s flat at 10.30 a.m. on April 28. Sharmistha hit the elderly woman several times with a utensil that she was holding in her hand. After committing the crime, Sharmistha cleaned the weapon with a cloth. Surajit held onto the memory card after witnessing his wife commit the crime and exiting his mother’s flat.

He shared his suspicions with the police, and the postmortem report confirmed that the cause of death was the injuries sustained prior to death.

DCP South, Chandan Chowdhary, said that based on the information collected from the investigation, Surajit’s account, the CCTV camera footage, and the postmortem report, a case has been registered against Sharmistha Som under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.

This is not the first incident of a daughter-in-law killing her mother-in-law. Earlier in February, a woman killed her husband and her mother-in-law in Assam with the help of two men. Bandana Kalita chopped her 62-year-old mother-in-law into several pieces, wrapped her in a blanket and a plastic sheet, and disposed of the chopped body in a deep gorge at Alieangriat village in Maghalaya.

Suggested Reading: Madhya Pradesh Man Attempts To Murder Wife, Kills Mother-In-Law Instead