Mother strangles drug-addict son to protect daughter-in-law from abuse

A woman in Mumbai, India, has been arrested for allegedly killing her drug-addict son to protect her daughter-in-law. Police are investigating the case.

Forty five-year-old Anwari Idrisi reportedly told police that on the night of 15 August she strangled her youngest son Nadeem to death when he returned home drunk and began beating her up.

Idrisi also informed police that her son had been married for the past two years, but his abusive nature had forced his wife to go back to her parents' house temporarily. He was addicted to narcotics and used to regularly beat up his wife, she added, according to The New Indian Express.

On the night of the murder, Nadeem returned home drunk as usual. Fearing that he might begin another abuse session with the family, Idrisi sent her two elder sons and their respective wives to the neighbour's house.

Nadeem reportedly became furious on discovering the reason for the family's disappearance and began beating up his mother. Idrisi then used her clothing to strangle her son. She was later found crying near his body.

Police detained Idrisi and remanded her in judicial custody until 31 August. She has been charged with murder under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code.

Domestic violence is a prevalent problem in many parts of India, particularly among the rural population and among families from the lower income groups. In most of these cases, women are found to be victims who have been abused by their husbands or in-laws.e

Statistics from different government and private sources reveal that a woman in India faces some form of abuse, including physical and sexual, every five minutes. According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau, the reported crime rate in the country in 2012 was 46 per 100,000 women.

Between 2012 and 2015, the crime rate against women, or the number of crimes reported divided by the total women population, shot up to over 53%. However, experts suggest that the rise in the reported rate could be higher because more women were opening up about the issue and approaching police than earlier.

Cruelty against women by her husband or relatives rose from 106,527 cases in 2012 to 113,403 in 2015, data from the crime records bureau showed.

There are many police cases where alcoholic or drug-addict husbands are accused of beating up their wives regularly. There are also cases where the frustrated wives have ended the abuse sessions by killing their husbands.

However, Idrisi's case was among the unusual ones where the mother-in-law stepped in to protect the daughter-in-law.