Kolhapur: A 47-year-old schoolteacher from Godoli in Satara city was arrested for allegedly bludgeoning his 17-year-old daughter to death with a cricket bat following a late-night dispute over television and mobile phone use.
An autopsy revealed a deep skull injury on the back of the girl’s head.
Police said the incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday. Shila Kadam, also a teacher, an argument erupted between the man and his daughter after midnight, according to the complaint lodged by the accused’s wife. Police said the man overpowered her and allegedly struck her on the head with the bat,” Vipul Patil, sub-divisional police officer Satara, quoted Shila as saying. During questioning, the man’s wife told police that he had changed their daughter’s bloodstained clothes, used them to clean her body, washed the clothes in a washing machine and attempted to clean the crime scene. Investigators said the man subsequently admitted to the crime.
The girl was a Std XI student at a junior college in Satara. “During the altercation, the girl allegedly attacked her younger sister with a cricket bat and attempted to assault her father. The case came to light after neighbours alerted police about a commotion in the house. When officers arrived, the parents initially claimed that their daughter had suffered fatal injuries after hitting her head against a wall. Police later recovered the bloodstained cricket bat, which had allegedly been concealed by the accused.
Her father, Purshottam Kadam, was remanded in three-day police custody by a Satara court on Monday.
An officer said police learnt during the investigation that the victim had allegedly displayed aggressive behaviour in the past and reportedly fractured her father’s hand during an earlier altercation. Her mother told investigators that the family had consulted a Pune-based doctor regarding her behaviour.
Police have registered a case under Section 103(1) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for murder. Officials said additional charges could be added if the investigation confirmed attempts to destroy evidence and conceal the crime.