Mumbai: A 46-year-old woman was brutally murdered in her sixth-floor flat at Malwani in Malad (West) on Monday evening and the killers attempted to burn the victim by placing newspapers on her body and setting it ablaze. The victim identified as Suzanna Alwin Rodrigues suffered two stab injuries, was strangulated and her face was partially burnt. The victim, who is the mother of two girls, was alone in the flat when the crime is believed to have been committed, but the police are uncertain about motive and time of death.
Suzannas 11-year-old daughter returned from school on Monday evening and rang the doorbell repeatedly, but did not get any response. She waited outside and her 16-year-old sister returned from college a while later. Despite calling on Suzannas mobile number and repeatedly knocking and ringing the doorbell, their mother did not open the door. The girls also smelled something burning inside the flat and rushed to Suzannas friend Camellos residence nearby for help.
A Shaikh, senior inspector with the Malwani police station, said that Camello reached the spot and broke open the door with help from the neighbours and alerted the police after finding Suzannas body beneath a stack of smouldering newspapers. The police reached the spot and discovered that the victims face was partially burnt.
The body was sent for a post-mortem to Bhagwati hospital and the doctors informed the police that besides burns to the face, the victim had been strangled and stabbed twice in the
01:48 PM, Jul 18, 2012
