Man Drags Ailing Mother Upstairs, Allegedly Throws Her Off Terrace

A 36-year-old assistant professor was arrested on Friday, 5 January, for allegedly killing his 64-year-old mother by pushing her off the terrace of their residential building in Rajkot in September last year, police said.

Sandip Nathwani, who teaches in a local pharmacy college, allegedly pushed his mother, Jayshreeben, to death on 29 September 2017 as he was "fed up" with her illness, according to the police.

Initially, the Nathwani family had claimed that Jayashreeben fell off the terrace after losing her balance, as she was suffering from some brain disease.

However, police changed the direction of the investigation on receipt of an unknown application. "After receiving the application, we checked the closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed in the apartment, and the recording clearly suggested that Sandip was with Jayshreeben when she fell off the terrace," said Deputy Commissioner of Police Karanjraj Vaghela.

Nathwani initially denied the allegation, but later "confessed" to his involvement in the crime. “He told us that he was fed up with his mother’s illness,” Vaghela said.

Sandeep is the only son. His mother has two other daughters, one of them is unmarried. Her marriage was not happening and Jayshreeben was also bedridden and irritable. She had some dispute with the son and his wife. Sandeep got fed up of his mother. He planned to push her from the terrace. He was aware about the spots that had CCTV cameras. So he took her to the terrace, where there was no CCTV camera and pushed her from there. 

Karanjraj Vaghela, DCP

The officer said Nathwani complained of uneasiness during the interrogation and was admitted to hospital. He would be formally arrested once he is discharged from the hospital.

Police registered an FIR against Nathwani under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code on the basis of the application received by them.

(With inputs from PTI)

Video Editor: Sandeep Suman