Murder whiff: 72-yr-old found burnt to death, son missing
Times of India | 27 March 2025
Kolkata: The charred body of a 72-year-old woman, a former teacher at a prominent school, was discovered by her neighbours on Wednesday afternoon from her home in Vidyasagar Colony near south Kolkata's Baghajatin. Cops strongly suspect Malabika Maitra was murdered.
The cops' murder suspicion is based on two huge red flags, apart from forensic evidence: Maitra had a pillow pressed against her face; also, her son Abhishek Maitra (32) — purportedly a bank official, who lived in the single-storey rented house with her since 2022 — has gone missing.
It was the Maitras' neighbours who noticed smoke coming out of the house around 12.30pm. Witnesses said they immediately broke the window after finding the door locked from outside, thinking there would be people trapped in. When they went in, however, they found the elderly woman's body, the lower half badly burnt, with a pillow pressed against her face.
Police sources said it was usual for Abhishek to lock the main door behind him as he left for work each day.
Abhishek, last seen on Tuesday night by neighbours, has gone "missing", cops said. Repeated calls to his phone have gone unanswered. "It seems he threw away his mobile phone, as its location is showing ‘static'. He changed his phone number a week ago," said a police source.
Neighbour Abhinava Ghosh who, along with Sipra Chakraborty and Chaitali Majumdar, were the first responders, said: "Abhishek rarely spoke to any of us. Malabika had been bedridden for a long time, and we saw her legs were often bandaged. About two to three weeks ago, she was hospitalised for some severe illness."
Abhinava said when they managed to enter the house, they found Malabika "lying on her bed, and it seemed someone had deliberately thrust a pillow into her face. The wardrobe, too, was wide open."
A senior Lalbazar officer said the death looked like a murder, "based on the forensic evidence from the place of occurrence and the condition in which the body was found", adding that a confirmation could be only issued after postmortem. A forensics team, along with officials from the detective department's scientific wing, spent Wednesday evening collecting evidence from the spot.
Abhinava said he noticed Abhishek often returning to his house even during the day a few weeks ago. "However, he discontinued this practice about a week ago," an officer said. "The circumstances surrounding the death are unusual," said a senior officer. "The open wardrobe and the locked door raise questions that need thorough investigation. Hence, we carried out the forensic examination at the earliest."
Investigators are working to find out how the fire began, questioning neighbours about any suspicious activity they may have noticed. The cops have registered a case of unnatural death, and are trying to locate Abhishek for questioning. "Once the autopsy report comes in, we will decide if a murder case needs to be started," an officer said.