Panvel: Woman gives supari to kill pesky mother

Priya Naik, victim

A 26-year-old woman allegedly plotted and executed the murder of her 44-year-old mother, along with her two friends, in a bid to gain access to her parents' property and to avoid the taunts from her mother regarding her new boyfriend. Police investigations revealed that she had planned the murder along with her teen friends, who were tasked with killing her mother and making it look like a suicide.

The motive of this crime is multifaceted. The woman wanted to gain control over her parents' property as in the event of her mother's demise, she would get control of the household. Besides, she also wanted to eliminate the dependency on her parents and gain financial independence as she was going through a divorce. The woman also wanted to avoid the embarrassment of being criticised by her mother regarding her relationship with a man.

The prime suspect, Pranali Pralhad Naik, in the custody of the police. PIC/FAISAL TANDEL

The Panvel City police have arrested three persons including the daughter and investigations will likely reveal more details about the events leading up to the murder. According to the police, the deceased Priya Pralhad Naik, 44, was a resident of Panvel. Naik lived with her husband Pralhad Naik. The prime suspect Pranali Pralhad Naik, 26, a resident of Panvel, is married and has a daughter. Though Pranali and her husband are estranged, she continues to stay at her husband's house in Panvel.

The incident

On September 13, the police found Priya's body at her residence. "Prima facie, we suspected it to be a suicide case. As we found some poisonous substance consumed by Priya and there were signs of froth in her mouth. Accordingly, we registered an accidental death case and started the investigation," said a police officer. The results from the post-mortem changed the course of the investigation. "The post-mortem reports revealed injury marks on the neck. With the confirmation of murder on September 14, we registered a case of murder under the the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and started the investigation. We started gathering technical evidence and found that the society didn't have any CCTV cameras. The investigation was conducted from all angles with all the relatives, neighbours and friends being considered as suspects," said a police officer.

The police said based on technical evidence and suspicion, they detained Pranali, the only offspring of the deceased. "Pranali confessed that she and her two friends Vivek Ganesh Patil and Vishal Pandey, both 19, had committed the crime. Pranali claimed that she told her mother Patil was coming home for some work. When Patil arrived, he was joined by Pandey and in the presence of Priya, they both strangled the deceased. They later poured rat poison into her mouth to mislead the police. Priya had promised to pay a hefty amount to the teens to murder her mother. As the two were in need of money, they had accepted the offer and committed the crime," said a police officer.

Prashant Mohite, deputy commissioner of police, Zone 2, Panvel said, "We arrested the daughter of the deceased and her two friends on September 15. All three were produced in court on September 16 and will be in police custody till September 23." The police said Pranali's parents received rent from over 10 houses and a few shops they owned and it was her mother who collected and managed all this money.

"As she was in the middle of a divorce, she depended on her mother. The latter was helping her. Pranali was in a relationship with a man to whom her mother objected. They argued on this subject many times. She assumed that after the death of her mother she would collect all the rent from her parents' property and live a happy life. She plotted and got her mother murdered," said a police officer. Nitin Thackeray, the senior police inspector of Panvel City police station is investigating the case.