The two women of a family have been arrested for poisoning their own kin in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district.
The reports said five members of a family in Gadchiroli died within a span of 20 days under mysterious circumstances.
The police probe has revealed a murder conspiracy by two women from the same family who were arrested on Wednesday.
“While one of the accused, Sanghamitra, was upset with her husband and in-laws, the other, Rosa, was unhappy due to a property dispute,” India Today quoting police official said.
The two used arsenic, a colourless, odourless and tasteless heavy metal to poison the family members, it said.
“On September 20, Shankar Kumbhare and his wife, Vijaya, showed symptoms of food poisoning. Their health deteriorated rapidly, with the couple experiencing body pain and later developing cardiac issues due to slow poisoning. They were first taken to a local hospital in Aheri, then shifted to Chandrapur before finally being moved to a hospital in Nagpur. Shankar Kumbhare died on September 26. His wife died a day later,” it said.
It added while the family was still grieving, their children - daughters Komal Dahagaokar and Ananda and son Roshan Kumbhare - were also hospitalised.
“Their condition worsened with each passing day. Komal died on October 8, Ananda on October 14 and Roshan Kumbhare died the day after,” it said.
“Upon hearing about the deaths of his family members, Shankar Kumbhare's eldest son, Sagar Kumbhare, rushed to Chandrapur from Delhi. However, he too got ill after returning home,” it added.
The Kumbhares' driver, Rakesh Madavi, who drove Shankar and Vijaya to Chandrapur for treatment, was also taken to a hospital after his health worsened, it said.
“A relative who was visiting Chandrapur and Nagpur to help the family also fell sick and needed treatment,” it mentioned.
The report that all three were in a stable condition.
The five family members who died and the three who are being treated in hospitals showed similar symptoms, such as tingling in the limbs, severe pain in the lower back, headache, blackened lips, and a heavy tongue, it said.
The report said the medical officer initially suspected that the victims and those sick had been poisoned.
"During the investigation, we kept a close eye on Sanghamitra, who was Shankar Kumbhare's daughter-in-law and Roshan Kumbhare's wife. Sanghamitra had married Roshan against her parents' wishes. A few months back, her father died by suicide and since then, she was upset. Further, her husband and her in-laws subjected her to frequent taunts and this was the reason she wanted to get rid of them," the report quoting a senior police official said.
"Rosa Ramteke was Vijaya Kumbhare's sister-in-law. She stayed in a house nearby. She had disagreements over the sharing of the ancestral property of her husband's parents with Shankar Kumbhare's wife and her sisters," the official added.
“Sanghamitra and Rosa joined hands and conspired to kill the family members. They initially researched online regarding poisons which could be used to kill family members,” it said.
“Rosa Ramteke travelled to Telangana and obtained the poison which could not be detected if it was mixed with water or food. In fact, Shankar Kumbhare and his wife drank poisoned water from a bottle while they were being taken to a hospital in Chandrapur; Rosa told them that it contained herbs,” it added.
