Elderly Gujarat woman killed by son's friend, tea saucer helps cops arrest him

A man has been arrested for allegedly murdering her friend's elderly mother in a fit of rage over a money-related disagreement in Gujarat's Junagadh city. Interestingly, a tea saucer turned out to be a key clue that led the police to the accused, identified as Suresh alias Kana Wadhwani.

The victim, 63-year-old Sunitaben, used to live with her son and her husband. She was found dead inside the family's house with her throat slit.

The ensuing probe proved to be particularly challenging in the absence of technical evidence like CCTV footage. The police considered all possible angles in the investigation.

However, a breakthrough came in the probe when the investigators noticed three unwashed tea saucers lying on the kitchen platform during an inspection of the crime scene.

They subsequently came to learn that Sunitaben and her son, Dileep, had tea together earlier in the day she was murdered. The police also found that the family's domestic help, whose job was to cook food and clean dirty utensils, had already finished her work and left for the day by the time the senior citizen was murdered.

Using this piece of information, the police were able to stitch together a sequence of events. Going by the number of unwashed crockery items, they theorised that the family hosted a visitor after the house help left and before Sunitaben was murdered.

Since it was already established that the murder victim and her son had had tea together, the police had to identify who used the third saucer. The lead led the investigators to believe that the murderer is someone already acquainted with the family.

The police then questioned several people who were close to the family and eventually became suspicious of Dileep’s friend, Suresh.

During intensive interrogation, the suspect allegedly confessed that he had visited Sunitaben’s house that evening and had tea served in the third saucer found by police.

According to investigators, Suresh was a close friend of Dileep's and was well aware of the family’s daily routine.

He used to run a garment shop, which he shut down before turning to stock market trading in hopes of earning quick money.

He, however, suffered heavy losses in the stock market and was left in severe financial distress. To recover from the losses and clear his debts, Suresh approached Sunitaben to seek a loan, the police said.

However, she purportedly told him that he would have to mortgage some valuable item as security for the loan.

Investigators said the demand for guarantees resulted in a heated argument between them inside the woman's house. In a fit of rage, Suresh allegedly pulled out a sharp knife and slit Sunita Ben’s throat before fleeing the scene, the police said.

In order to avoid suspicion, he continued remaining close to the grieving family and also participated in Sunitaben's funeral, per the police.