Officials of Malwani police station investigating the case said that both women were hit on the head with an iron rod, which was found lying beside them.
Antonita Melcose, 65, and her daughter, Betty Varghese, 40, were murdered in their bungalow — Rosy Villa at Masterwadi in Malwani — on Thursday night. Officials of Malwani police station investigating the case said that both women were hit on the head with an iron rod, which was found lying beside them.
One motive, said the cops, could be robbery. The two women had employed a domestic help, a man called Raju, about 15 days before the crime. He was found missing. However, the cops were unable to specify what amount of cash and what valuables had been stolen from the bungalow.
Another motive could be the zeal of some builders to procure the bungalow. They reportedly made repeated attempts to buy it, but Antonita, who was the owner, had turned down their offers.
“Antonita used to stay in the bungalow with Betty and her two daughters. Both the kids are students of a local school. Their father, Oman Varghese, resides in Pune. He used to visit his wife and daughters at regular intervals,” Sanjay Banerjee, deputy commissioner of police [Zone 11], said, adding that the girls were in Pune at the time of the incident.
Another police official said that the two women were attacked around 10.30 pm on Thursday. Mohan Goswami, a businessman living in the vicinity, heard muffled shouts coming from inside the bungalow as he was passing by it. Knowing that the women lived alone, Goswami got concerned. He called up Oman in Pune. The latter told him to inform the police. Goswami went to the Malwani police station and told the on-duty officials about the shouts he heard.
“By the time we reached the bungalow, the culprit had fled,” said the official. “We found the two women lying in pools of blood, with an iron rod lying beside them. Antonita and Betty were rushed to Bhagwati Hospital. The former was declared dead on arrival. Later, Betty too succumbed to her injuries.”
Banerjee said that around 15 days ago, the family had employed Raju to do the household chores. When the police reached the spot, Raju was missing. “We are trying to trace the servant. We do not know if anything has been stolen from the villa as both the ladies are dead,” said the DCP.
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