MUMBAI: The JJ Marg police have arrested a 51-year-old man and his juvenile son for the murder of a 62-year-old woman whose partly decomposed body was found in her flat in Nagpada area last week. Police had earlier registered a murder case against unknown persons, but cracked the case on Saturday with the arrest of the father-son duo.
Police said that while main accused, Ayub Khan, was produced before the court and remanded to police custody, the boy was sent to juvenile justice board’s custody since he is 17 years old. The murder took place on July 1, and the deceased woman, identified as Rehana Siddiqui, was found lying dead in her flat in Diamond Cutter building in South Mumbai by her maid.
When Siddiqui did not open the door, the maid immediately alerted the neighbours, who then contacted her son and daughter. They also alerted the JJ Marg police.
Police then broke open the door and found Siddiqui’s body in a partially decomposed state. There were blood stains below her nose. Police also recovered a broken rope near her body and suspect she could have been strangled to death. The woman had died 24 hours earlier, said a police official. Police said Siddiqi was living alone after the death of her husband and her son and daughter lived in the vicinity and visited her regularly.
During the course of investigation into the murder, police stumbled upon CCTV footages, and some witnesses said they had seen Ayub Khan and his son going inside the building. When police picked up Ayub, he confessed to the killing and said they were the victim’s neighbor earlier and his mother had given Rs 16 lakh to Siddiqui which she refused to return. This had led to a scuffle between the two families. Ayub told police he killed Siddiqui in a fit of rage and fled.
