Elderly woman found at home with neck slit

When Prerna Vora (52) arrived at her residence around 10.30 pm on Sunday - as per her daily routine - she found her 78-year-old mother lying in a pool of blood inside their apartment at Nimani chawl, SV Road, in Malad (West). Nirmala Vora's neck had been slit open, and the murder weapon - a knife from the deceased's kitchen - was lying nearby. Police suspect robbery to be the motive, as Rs 35,000 was missing from the house.

Murder mystery: Police investigate the murder of 78-year-old

Cops said that Prerna, who is unmarried, was staying with her mother. She operates a juice centre near Inorbit Mall and also works as a beautician. Prerna told police that she leaves home at 11.30 am and returns by 10.30 at night every day. When she came back on Sunday, she found the main door open and on entering the house saw her mother lying on the ground with a deep slash on her neck.

Nirmala Premji Vora (inset) at her Malad residence. The kitchen knife thatu00a0was found lying near Vora's body.u00a0Pics/Nayan Sahane

According to police officials, Prerna also said she had employed domestic help Balram Jaiswal who took care of the house as well as the juice centre.

"After we reached the crime scene along with sniffer dogs, the canines led us straight to the juice outlet. We have also found a stack of sugarcane, which was delivered by a dealer at the house. This was to be transported to the juice centre," said PI Rajaram Prabhu, from Malad police station.

Prabhu added that police have detained the domestic help and are also trying to trace the sugarcane deliveryman. Cops suspect the crime took place before 6 pm, as the victim's dinner - , which she usually consumed before sunset - was lying untouched.

"We have registered a case of murder against unidentified persons and are investigating the case," the police officer said.u00a0