A 62-year-old woman, Chandraleka Mehta, was found dead in mysterious circumstances with multiple injuries on her body behind her house at Dongorim-Navelim on Thursday, even as Margao police have registered a case of murder against her 71-year-old husband, Mohan Mehta, who is believed to have gone into hiding after the incident.
Though the police have registered a case of murder against Mohan Mehta for the murder of his wife based on a complaint by the duo’s daughter, Aruna Salelkar, the police are trying to find out how the deceased wife could land on the ground through the bathroom ventilator located on the first floor of the building when the bathroom was latched from inside.
As the Margao police visited the house after receiving information around 1.05 pm that a dead body was lying behind the building, they found to their shock and surprise that almost all the household items and consumer durables inside the premises was totally damaged and destroyed.
Margao PI C L Patil said that the household items, including a refrigerator, TV set, cupboards and other items, were all found damaged inside with a pick axe.
“Blood was found splattered inside the premises on the floor and wall. The deceased woman has sustained multiple injuries on her body,” PI Patil said, while saying that the exact cause behind the death will be known after the postmortem examination.
PI Patil said the daughter of the duo has informed that the couple were quarreling with each other, adding that neighbours had also corroborated this information that they heard the duo fighting inside the apartment in the morning.
“The exact motive behind the incident is being investigated, including a property dispute between the couple. The house was in the name of the deceased wife. The husband, who was working as an accountant near Pimpalkatta, was not staying with the wife for years now and had come together only recently,” he said, adding that the husband is a native of Karnataka, but has been putting up in the State for years now.
District police chief Shekhar Prabhudesai along with DySP Dinraj Govekar visited the site and took stock of the investigations. DySP Govekar said the woman appears to have been beaten up as evident by the multiple injuries on her body.
“The bathroom ventilator appears to have been forcibly opened. The bathroom door was found latched from inside. Blood was found splattered inside the house,” he said, adding that police teams have been sent to some locations in search of the absconding husband.
