Woman Strangles Mother-In-Law To Death, Tries To Dispose Of Body With Husband's Help

A woman has been arrested for killing her mother-in-law by strangling her and trying to dispose of the body with her husband's help, police said Monday.

Police arrested Pooja Shinde, along with her husband Milind Shinde, from Pune, a city in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, accusing the 22-year-old woman of murdering her mother-in-law following a domestic dispute that turned violent.

The couple was remanded in police custody for four days by a local court Monday. They were charged with murder and destruction of evidence.

The victim, 50-year-old Baby Shinde, was living with the accused couple. Police believe she was murdered on May 21 after a dispute with her daughter-in-law.

"Pooja and the victim had a fight over some issue on May 21 when the two were alone in the house. She strangled Baby, stuffed the body in a gunny sack and hid it on the terrace," Bhaskar Jadhav, a senior police official said, reported local news outlet NDTV.

Police said the woman used a blouse to strangle the victim after a domestic fight between the two. The woman's husband then reportedly helped her to dump the body on the terrace of the building where they lived.

The incident came to light three days later when neighbors spotted the accused trying to dispose of the heavy gunny sack. They got suspicious and reported it to the police.

"We found the CCTV of them dragging the gunny bag from the terrace to the nearby garden. The husband was not involved in the murder, but he was clearly involved in the destruction of evidence. We are investigating what led to the murder, but it seems like a domestic fight turned violent," Hindustan Times reported quoting Narayan Patil, an assistant police inspector.

Police registered a case against the couple after the younger son of the deceased victim, who was also living with the couple, lodged a complaint with the officials.