Man get life term, wife 10-mth jail for foster mother’s murder

Thane, Aug 28 (PTI) A man from Mumbai was awarded lifesentence by a local court while his wife got 10 monthsimprisonment for the murder of his 70-year-old foster mother. Additional Public Prosecutor Buleshwar Hinge told thedistrict court that Vinit alias Mahesh Mestri (38) and hiswife Maya killed his foster mother Indira Remje (70), aresident of Andheri in Mumbai, on September 21, 2014. They then packed the body in a trunk, tied it with a ropeand sealed it. The trunk was dumped at Mira Road in Thanewhere a police party on patrol duty found it, he said. Hinge alleged that the accused smothered the old woman todeath. They later attempted to sell her ornaments to a localjeweller, who bought all jewels but one which had grey hairentangled in it. Later, the woman’s two biological sons filed a missingcomplaint about their mother with MIDC Police at Andheri andalso started their own hunt for her. They then came to know that Vinit, who was jobless and adrunkard, had bought several household items all of a sudden. This made them suspicious and they went to localjewellers from whom they came to know that the accused couplehad mortgaged their mother’s jewellery at a shop, whileanother jeweller had turned the couple away as human hair wasentangled in a piece of jewellery. The two brothers later also found out that the accusedhad come to their house and the neighbours had seen thembringing a trunk. In all, 19 witnesses, including the woman’s twobiological sons, jewellers from the area and a few neighbours,were examined by the prosecution. The court relied on deposition of the woman’s neighbourswho informed that they had seen the accused enter her house. Vinit’s wife pleaded ignorance, saying she was under theimpression that he had got money from a job to buy all thehousehold stuff and that she had just accompanied him to thejewellery shop. However, Hinge urged the court to award maximumpunishment to the accused so that it gives a strong message tothe society. Subsequently, Thane District Judge Mridula Bhatiaconvicted the couple on Friday for the offence and awardedlife sentence to Vinit and 10 months imprisonment to his wife.PTI CORR GKDVRDS