Rajkot Professor Throws Ailing Mother Off Terrace, Was 'Fed Up' of Her Illness

Rajkot: A 36-year-old assistant professor has been nabbed for allegedly killing his ailing 64-year-old mother by pushing her off the terrace of their residential building in Gujarat's Rajkot in September last year.

Sandip Nathwani, who teaches in a local Pharmacy college, allegedly pushed his mother Jayshreeben to death on September 27 as he was "fed up" with her illness, according to police.

CCTV cameras outside the residence captured Nathwani dragging his mother to the stairs. She was found dead soon after. The video of the incident has gone viral.

Initially, the police registered a case of accidental death after 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 CCTVs installed in the apartment and the recording clearly suggested that Sandip was with Jayshreeben when she fell off the terrace," said DCP Karanjraj Vaghela, the investigating officer.

When the police confronted Sandeep with the evidence, Sandeep first maintained that he had come down from the terrace to fetch some water as his mother wanted it for “surya namaskar”. When he came down, she jumped off the terrace and died, he said.

But later he confessed to the crime, police said. “The CCTV footage clearly establishes the fact that at 08:56 am and 40 seconds, at the time when Jayshreeben fell and dies on the spot, Sandip was very much on the terrace. It is immediately after she fell to the ground that Sandip is seen rushing down,” DCP Vaghela said.

"He told us that he was fed up with his mother's illness. Sandip told us that on the day of the incident he took his mother to the terrace and pushed her," Vaghela said.

Vaghela said the police doubted Nathwani’s version of events from the beginning. But he did not say why it took the police the police more than three months to find the incriminating footage and register a case of murder.

Speaking to News18, Anupamsingh Gehlot, Commissioner of Police, Rajkot City said, “Constant quarrels between Jayshreeben and her children and the fact that she was bedridden and required help to even walk a few steps appears to be the motive for the murder.”

Sequence of events on the morning of September 27 according to the CCTV footage procured by the police:

8:27 am: Sandeep is seen taking his mother to the lift outside his apartment on the third floor. He is not wearing any footwear.

8:30 am: He helps his mother out of the lift and drags her to a staircase on the fourth floor that leads to the terrace.

8:39 am: He comes down to the fourth floor and asks for a chair.

8:45 am: The fourth floor residents return back to their home after giving a chair to Sandeep.

8:56 am: Jayshreeben falls off the terrace, Sandeep is still on the terrace.

8:57 am: Sandeep walks down the stairs. He is wearing his mother’s slippers.

Vaghela said that the CCTV footage clearly proves that Nathwani was the only person on the terrace when his mother fell off. 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 (Punishment for murder) of the IPC on the basis of the application received by them.