THANE: The city police announced here today that one person has been arrested in connection with a case in which a Thane housewife was killed merely on suspicion that she had practised "witchcraft" on her own sister, who died later.
Addressing a press conference at Kalyan today, DCP (Kalyan Zone) S B Jadhav told reporters that on the night of August 12, the victim namely Sangeeta Amesh Antre went missing, after which her husband lodged a missing person complaint at Kalyan's MFC police station.
A police investigation revealed that the last call on her cellular phone was from a number which belonged to the complainant's brother-in-law Krishna Raghav Safalika, the police official said. A probe revealed that Safalika's wife Leena who happened to be the missing victim Sangeeta's sister, used to be sick all the time, the police official said.
Several times she told her husband Safalika who is the prime accused in the case, that her sister Sangeeta practiced "witchcraft" on her which is the reason behind her sickness, the police official said. After Leena died in January 2015, her husband Safalika bore a serious grudge against the victim Sangeeta, who was accused by his late wife of making her sick by practicing "witchcraft" on her, the police official said.
In order to avenge his wife Leena's death, Safalika and his friend Sandeep Mali reached Sangeeta's house on the night of August 12, when her husband was away and physically assaulted her, the police official said.
After Leena became unconscious, they dumped her in a car and drove towards Nashik, towards Vasind village. When Leena regained her consciousness, the main accused Safalika asked her if she had practiced "witchcraft" on his wife Leena, to which the victim Sangeeta answered in the affirmative, the police official said. Her reply annoyed the accused Krishna Safalika, who strangulated her to death and dumped her body in the Kasara ravines, the police official said.
An offence under Section 302 and Section 364 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered and investigations are on, the police official said.