Howrah: The decomposed and unclothed body of a 70-year-old woman, who was allegedly tortured and murdered, was found in her Howrah home in the Santoshpur-Mannapara area on Friday. The police said her hands and feet were tied, pliers had been used to extract every single tooth, and she was subsequently strangled to death and had her head crushed. Police identified the deceased as Durga Mondal, who lived alone. Her son Debesh is a former IT engineer who worked in Hyderabad and now runs a gold jewellery showroom there. Her daughters live in their in-laws’ homes. Her husband had passed away earlier.
Locals suspect she was raped before being murdered, and there were also allegations that jewellery was looted. Cops suspect someone known to the victim may be involved. Family members were unable to reach her by phone for the past four days. On Friday, locals found all doors of the house locked from outside. They detected a stench, and when neighbours peeped through the window, they spotted the body lying on the floor.Cops have sent the body for postmortem. Subimal Paul, superintendent of Howrah Rural Police, said: “A murder case has been registered. A search operation is underway to find the culprits.”
