Elderly woman killed, burnt by man to avenge insult

A 65-year-old woman was allegedly killed and her body burnt with paddy straw by a man in Maharashtra's Nagpur district, police said on Tuesday.

The accused, Rajesh Sontakke (22), apparently wanted to take revenge for the humiliation he was subjected to by the woman's son, Weltur police station's assistant inspector Anand Kaviraj said.

The incident took place on December 3 when Lilabai Suryabhan Wasnik, a resident of Kalamna area in Nagpur city, went to stock paddy straw at her farm in Dongarmouda village under Kuhi tehsil, located around 40 km from here.

A day before that, on December 2, Sontakke's cattle strayed into Wasnik's farm which led to a fight between her son and the accused.

Wasnik's son had then slapped the accused, which angered him, the official said.

When Wasnik visited her farm on December 3, the accused, on finding her alone there, allegedly hit her on the head with a rod, killing her on the spot, he said.

He then kept the body on the paddy husk lying in the farm and set it afire, the official said.

When the woman did not return home, her family members launched a search for her.

On December 8, when her daughters went to the farm, they found a skull along with some burnt bones, he said.

They immediately informed the police, who rushed to the spot and sent the charred remains to a forensic lab for DNA test, he said.

In the meantime, the police also received a tip-off, based on which they arrested Sontakke late Monday night.

"During interrogation, he confessed to have committed the crime," the official said.

"After Sontakke's cattle strayed into the farm of Lilabai, her son had a quarrel with the accused and slapped him on December 2. Angry over the humiliation faced by him, Sontakke was looking for Lilabai's son to take revenge," he said.

However, when Sontakke spotted Wasnik alone at her farm the next day, he allegedly killed her, the official said.

The accused was booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence), he added.