2 held for killing widow in Malvani

The Malvani police of Malad area on Monday arrested two men for murdering a hearing-impaired woman over a monetary dispute.

Later, the accused were produced before a metropolitan magistrate court where they were remanded to police custody till April 28.

The accused have been identified as Suresh Tarwan (20) and Mahender Dhania (26), said the senior police inspector of Malvani Milind Khetle.

According to police officials, deceased Urmila Kadam (32), a widow, was living in the Juliuswadi area of Malvani with her eight-year-old son Raju and 75-year-old mother Geeta Patankar.

Both Kadam and Patankar were working as sweepers near a cross at Malvani and were staying in a rented flat.

The women had met Tarwan who was working as a candle seller in the same area. Tarwan later introduced them to Dhania.

Almost eight months ago, Tarwan and Dhania took a sum of Rs 45,000 from the Patankar and her daughter, promising to find them a better house to stay. The women paid the amount but never got the house that they were promised, so they began asking Tarwan and Dhania to return their money.

On April 22 — the day of the incident — at around 9 pm, the accused visited Patankar’s house, and on seeing them she asked for her money and threatened to approach the police. Tarwan and Dhania left immediately but returned around 1 am again, and sneaked into the aged woman’s residence and smothered Kadam to death with old clothes, threatened Patankar and fled from the spot.

On Sunday after performing the last rites of her daughter, Patankar visited the police station and filed the complaint. After this, police detained Tarwan and Dhania, who confessed their crime and were arrested under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for murder.