Mumbai: Drunk nephew brutally thrashes, kills woman

Kosu seated on the bed where Santhan lay when she was beaten up

A 39-year-old man was arrested by the Byculla police on Tuesday for allegedly beating his 65-year-old aunt to death after an argument over a loan taken by his brother. The deceased Santhan Fernandez stayed with her nephew, Antony Fernandez, and his wife, Archana, 36, Ghodapdeo. As per police, Antony, the accused, came home drunk on Tuesday morning and started arguing with his aunt. He then hit and abused her over a couple of hours till she fell unconscious. She had even made calls to her relatives for help, but thinking it was the accused's usual quarrel, nobody came forward.

Antony Fernandez

The police said Antony is a heavy drinker and often picked up fights with his wife as well as aunt. Antony drives a taxi and often works at a vada pav shop, while his wife is a homemaker. Santhan has been an invalid since she fell in the year 2018 and sustained injuries to her spine.

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The beating

On Tuesday, Antony came home around 5 am and picked up a fight with Santhan over a notice sent by a bank regarding a loan taken by his brother. "Antony's elder brother Sebastian, 41, who lives in Andheri, had applied for a loan of Rs 3 lakh. He had given his permanent address as Antony's house," said Kosu Fernandez, Santhan's elder sister. Antony was furious and kept asking Santhan why she let him give the address of his house. The police said Santhan kept telling him she didn't know anything about it, but Antony kept hitting her.

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‘No one helped'

"As fights and arguments were regular at the house, nobody came forward to intervene. Santhan had even called her sister Kosu who lives 10 minutes away, but she didn't respond as she was busy. Around 9 am, Santhan got breathless and fell unconscious. Archana who was constantly intervening, trying to stop Antony, called a taxi and took her to KEM Hospital," said an official from Byculla police station.

Doctors at KEM Hospital declared Santhan brought dead at 10.10 am. The Byculla cops were called by doctors, and as per the statement of Archana, Antony was picked up by the police. "The accused has been booked and arrested under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC," said Ashok Khot, senior inspector, Byculla police station. Antony was produced in court and has been sent to police custody.

"My sister was crying for help for more than two hours, but no one from the neighbourhood came to help. I feel sad that I couldn't answer her call, otherwise she would have been alive today," said Kosu Fernandez.