A 64-year-old woman living with her ailing husband in their Behala apartment was found murdered on Monday morning, police said.
Anita Ghosh, a former Doordarshan performer who later gave online singing lessons, was discovered dead in her third-floor flat at Priyadarshini Apartment on Becharam Chatterjee Road. Her husband, Arup Ghosh, in his 70s, a retired Doordarshan official, was in the other room at the time and is now physically immobile, the police said.
Neighbours said they heard screams for help around 8.30am but found the apartment door locked from inside. “The apartment was locked from the inside. We kept banging the door until a woman who used to work here earlier opened it and said that another domestic help who had also worked here had fled after killing the woman,” one neighbour said.
The police received an alert around 9am. By then, the victim’s son had taken
her to a private hospital in Behala, where she was declared dead.
Deputy commissioner (south west) Rahul De said: “The woman had multiple sharp cuts and had lost a lot of blood. We detained three people who worked as domestic help in the house. During questioning, one of them confessed to the crime.”
The suspect, identified as Sanju Sarkar, 34, of Purba Barisha, allegedly attacked Anita with a knife, striking her chin and abdomen. The police said she had known the victim from two years ago, when she had worked briefly as a caregiver in the apartment.
“After interrogation, the detained woman admitted that she went to the apartment around 8.30am and demanded money from Anita Ghosh. When she refused, the accused killed her,” said Kolkata Police joint commissioner (crime) Rupesh Kumar.
The couple lived alone, their only son residing in another apartment a few blocks away. Sources said the Ghoshes had employed multiple caregivers over time.
The police have registered a murder case at Parnasree police station. Investigators are examining whether the attack was solely motivated by money or if other factors were involved.
Thousands of senior citizens live alone in the city, as their children have moved to other cities for work. This is not the first time an elderly Calcuttan has been murdered by someone they trusted at home.
