Body near stream: Cops say kin killed 2 over property

Mumbai: A day after a 28-year-old woman's body, tied to a large boulder, was found near a stream in a village in Manor in Palghar on Monday, police found the body of her two-year-old missing daughter in the same waters. The siblings of the woman's husband have been arrested for the double murders.The body of the woman, Sushmita Davre, bore strangulation marks and her daughter was nowhere to be found. Her husband Praveen, who works as a labourer on a fishing boat, has been away for several days. The family lived on their field owing to a property row with Praveen's siblings, Sandeep Davre and Suman Karbat. Villagers told police about Davre's frequent fights with Sandeep and Karbat. According to Sandeep, he and Karbat approached Davre on Monday, asking her to convince Praveen to keep out of the property. The confrontation escalated to a fight and Sandeep allegedly strangled Davre while Karbat held her limbs. Fearing that the child's cries would alert villagers, they allegedly strangled her too. The bodies were taken to a stream about 4km from the village. Davre's body was tied to a boulder to ensure it would drown, but due to the low water flow, the boulder and the body remained visible. Sandeep led police to the location where the child's body was placed in a gunny bag filled with stones and dumped in the water.