Kolkata woman dies after attack by sis-in-law over stale biryani

KOLKATA: A 48-year-old homemaker died when her sister-in-law, who is an architect and owns an architecture firm in the Dalhousie area, attacked her at their two-storey Ganguly Bagan house under Patuli police station on Monday evening. According to police, the accused was angry when her son started vomiting after allegedly being served ‘stale’ biryani by the victim.The architect has been arrested.
Cops added that the accused pinned down the victim to the bed and started hitting her. She stopped only after the victim fell unconscious and her husband rushed in hearing his wife’s cries.
The victim, Falguni Basu, was rushed to the Baghajatin Hospital, where she was declared dead.
The family claimed that the accused, Sharmistha Basu (40), was schizophrenic and would often burst into anger over trivial issues. “We have asked the family to provide medical details of the accused. Though primary investigations show the victim suffered a heart attack during the assault, we will seek forensic evidence before arriving at a conclusion,” said a senior investigating officer.
The victim’s husband, Arindam Basu (56), is a senior officer with the state agriculture department and the accused’s husband, Anshuman Basu (44), is a director of a Sector V firm, said policwe officers.
Police said both Sharmistha and Falguni had minor arguments in the past. However, this was the first time there was a physical assault involving the two. The accused’s son and the husband of the deceased were also present at the house on Monday.
“Falguni treated Sharmistha’s son as her own and often treated him with delicacies. Sharmistha wouldn’t like that as she thought that her son was being overfed and served junk food. On Monday, an argument broke out between the two after her son vomitted when his tutor had come. Sharmistha suddenly caught Falguni by her hair near the dining table,” said an investigating officer.
“She was then dragged on to a bed and pinned down. We believe the sudden severe assault led to Falguni suffering a major cardiac arrest. By the time Arindam could rush in and take her to hospital with the help of the tutor and neighbours, it was too late. We have enough evidence to suggest this was not a pre-planned attack or murder,” the officer added.
“A case was recorded on the basis of letter of the complaint of Arindam at Patuli police station in which he alleged that Sharmistha Basu had allegedly committed culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Arrangements are being made for post-mortem to ascertain the actual cause of death. Further investigation and noting of statements are in progress. The accused woman has been arrested,” said DC (SSD) Rashid Munir Khan.