Woman held for strangling 70-year-old relative in Saidabad over financial dispute

HYDERABAD: Saidabad police on September 18 arrested a 48-year-old woman for allegedly murdering her 70-year-old relative and stealing his silver ornaments.

Police said the accused, Nenavath Manga, wife of late Ramesh, a resident of Vishnu Nagar, killed Katroth Shivaiah, 70, on the intervening night of September 14 and 15. Shivaiah’s elder daughter lodged a complaint the next morning after finding him dead with strangulation marks in their under-construction house, along with missing ornaments. A case was registered in Crime No.300/2025 under Sections 103(1) and 309(6) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Dispute over construction work

Investigations revealed that Manga, niece-in-law of the deceased’s wife, had introduced a man named Venkatesh for construction of a new house. The family paid him ₹8.25 lakh, but the work was left incomplete, leading to heavy financial loss. Shivaiah’s family held Manga responsible and quarrels between the two families became frequent.

Police said Manga had also developed an illicit relationship with Venkatesh after her husband’s death. She was under financial pressure due to unpaid instalments on a two-wheeler purchased in her name. On the afternoon of September 14, another quarrel broke out between Manga and Shivaiah’s wife over smoke from the stove, during which Shivaiah also abused her. Humiliated, Manga decided to kill him.

Murder and recovery of ornaments

Around 00.30 hrs on September 15, while Shivaiah was asleep in an intoxicated state in the under-construction house, Manga suffocated him with a pillow and then strangled him with a plastic tile-binding thread. She removed two silver kadiyalu and a silver waist chain from his body and hid them in a rice tin at her house.

During investigation, police preserved the crime scene and seized a plastic wire, pillow, and other articles. Post-mortem confirmed death due to strangulation. On September 18 at 16.00 hrs, Manga was apprehended. On interrogation, she confessed and led police to her house, where the ornaments weighing about 30 tulas were recovered.

The accused was produced before court and remanded to judicial custody.

The arrest was made under the supervision of Chaitnya Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police, South East Zone, along with K Srikanth, Additional DCP, S Venkat Reddy, ACP Saidabad Division, B Chandra Mohan, Inspector of Police, Saidabad police station, and B Gnaneshwar, Sub-Inspector, with their staff.