Woman strangulated by nephew over property dispute

PUNE: A 28-year-old widow from Dhankawdi was on Wednesday allegedly abducted and strangulated to death by her nephew and his friend. Her body was then burnt beyond recognition near Kashedi village, around 65 km from Pune.
The police have cited property dispute as the reason behind the murder. The deceased has been identified as Surekha Pawar. The Sahakarnagar police arrested two suspects, Surekha's nephew Shailesh Pawar (22), a resident of Dattawadi, and his friend Narayan Nivangune (25) of Ghorpadi.
The Sahakarnagar police recovered some sections of the backbone of the charred body from the spot on Friday night. "It will be sent to a forensic laboratory for a DNA test to ascertain the identity of the deceased," senior inspector Arvind Patil said. He added that the suspects used petrol and a tyres to burn the body.
Patil said Surekha was the second wife of Sanjay Pawar, a constable in the state prison department. She is survived by two daughters, Harshada (8) and Kirti (6). After her husband died three years ago, she had been staying with her in-laws in Dhankawdi. Her in-laws also own a two-room tenement in Dattawadi. Surekha had requested them to allow her to stay in the tenement. However, Shailesh was opposed to this and they had a dispute over the issue, Patil further said.
Patil said that Shailesh came to Surekha's house in Dhankawdi on Wednesday. He asked her to come with him to take possession of the terrace of the tenement in Dattawadi. Surekha went with him and did not return till late in the night. Her sister Malan Renuse (30) of Warje lodged a missing compliant with the Sahakarnagar police station on Thursday, he added.
"On Friday morning, Renuse came to the police station again and lodged a complaint against Shailesh. Renuse said that Surekha's elder daughter Harshada had told her that she had seen her mother going out with Shailesh on Wednesday afternoon. After receiving the complaint, we immediately picked up Shailesh from his house. During interrogation, he revealed what had transpired," Patil said.
According to Patil, Shailesh took Surekha to Nivangune's flat in Wadgaon on a two-wheeler on Wednesday. The duo then strangulated her to death in the room. Later, he covered her body with a gunny bag. Nivangune, a driver by profession, had borrowed a friend's jeep. The duo transported the body to Kashedi in the jeep. On their way to the village, they bought petrol from a petrol pump, Patil said.
He said the duo identified a secluded spot near the village to burn the body. They placed the jeep's extra tyre on the body, poured petrol on it and set it alight. The suspects then drove back to Pune, he said.
After Shailesh made the statement, inspector Shailendra Shinde (crime) and other policemen rushed to the spot. "On Friday night, one reaching the location, we found that Surekha's body had been burnt beyond recognition. Some body parts were still burning at the time. We recovered some sections of the backbone," Shinde said.
Assistant commissioner of police Subhashchandra Dange told TOI, "Prima facie investigations show that Surekha was murdered over a property dispute. However, we are looking into other angles as well."
When contacted, Surekha's brother Maruti Shedge said that as she was her husband's second wife, she did not get any benefits from the government after his death. Consequently, she had requested her in-laws to allow her to stay in the tenement in Dattawadi or give her share of the money earned after selling it. "Her in-laws had agreed to sell the tenement and give her share. However, their relatives were against this," Shedge said.
Meanwhile, a magistrate's court on Saturday remanded the duo to police custody till March 3.