Hyderabad: 45-year-old woman was allegedly killed by her teenage son at her home in MS Maqtha in the Panjagutta area of the city. The family has claimed that the son had been “possessed” by an “evil spirit” but cops have dismissed the claims as mere superstition. Bibi Hajara, wife of Syed Saiban, suffered a serious injury to her neck after the assailant struck her with a sharp-edged weapon. The victim’s 17- year-old son remains the primary suspect in the case. The motive behind the killing is still unclear but cops suspect the victim’s son is suffering from unexplained psychiatric problems. The family, however, maintains he has been possessed by an “evil spirit”.
Panjagutta police officials said they were informed on Thursday night by the victim’s kin about the murder. The body was found inside the house in a pool of blood. The family told the police that they suspected an outsider’s hand in the murder. “But at the crime scene there were no signs of a forced entry. Nothing indicates the presence of an intruder in the house, which is located in a basti. We are investigating the son and are checking if he had a role to play in the murder of Bibi Hajara,” Panjagutta police inspector S. Mohan Kumar, said. According to sources from the neighbourhood, on Thursday night, the son started making “strange noises”. The mother then went to check on him.
“The son must have attacked the victim with a knife,” a source added. The victim’s husband, who runs a tyre repair shop at Panjagutta, was not present at the house when the crime occurred. The couple’s two other sons were also not at home around the time the crime is believed to have taken place. When the rest of the family arrived at the house, after hearing about the murder, only one of Hajara’s sons was present at home. “We are investigating if the family had any quarrels with each other, and if the murder was the result of an ongoing dispute between the family’s members,” said Inspector Kumar. A case for murder has been booked and an investigation is on.
