Mid-Day Mumbai – Bombay,India
On Wednesday afternoon, the last evidence in the infamous murder case of senior citizen Adi Cursetjee was examined at the sessions court. Cursetjee’s close friend and complainant, Navroz Jilla, spoke to Anand Hollaabout the gruesome murder.
Adi uncle would repeatedly warn his adopted daughter Geeta that he would disown her from his property, if she married the driver. But suddenly uncle disappeared.
Geeta then approached the society, and demanded immediate ownership of the flat.
She later produced uncle’s death certificate — a fake — which mentioned heart attack as the cause of death. Mehru aunty (Cursetjee’s wife), who passed away on October 19, 2003, revealed that she was often physically assaulted by Geeta.
She told me, ‘Geeta mane maarech’ (Gita hits me).
The police later retrieved uncle’s decomposed body from the Parsi Tower of Silence for investigation — which was against Zoroastrian principles, but it was unavoidable under the circumstances.
Uncle was an avid lover of animals — a fact exploited by Geeta. She stuffed her 350 sq feet flat in Worli with pet animals and uncle even brought her the 750 square feet adjoining flat as well.
The incident
On May 20, 2003, Adi Cursetjee (73) was allegedly murdered by three assailants hired by Geeta Soni (26), Cursetjee’s adopted daughter.
The motive behind the murder was to gain control of Cursetjee’s sprawling Breach Candy flat in Dil Pazir Apartments, estimated at Rs 3.5 crore, and savings worth Rs 3 crore.
The police arrested Geeta, her husband (the driver), Geeta’s mother, the assailants, a Parsi priest, and a doctor. The victim’s neck was slashed to destroy any evidence of strangulation marks.
Geeta was adopted by Cursetjee from the Sonis, around six years before he died.