The Adi Kurshetji murder case of May 2003, which culminated in the conviction of the accused on Friday, has exposed the soft underbelly of the Parsi community.
With an increasing number of aging Parsis living a lonely existence in sprawling apartments, they have become easy targets for such attacks.
In the recent years, nearly a dozen murders have been reported where the victims are Parsis, either strangulated, stabbed or gagged to death.
In the case of Kurshetji (73), Geeta Soni, a woman half his age, befriended him with an eye on his properties and money amounting to over Rs 30 crore.
Such was his trust that he even adopted Soni, who committed suicide on Friday after being sentenced for life for the old man’s murder.
Minoo Shroff, chairman of the Bombay Parsi Punchayat, says, "Kurshetji allowed himself to be used. He had genuine love for animals, a passion which this woman shared and exploited. It might have hurt his ego when she wanted to marry his driver."
