Mumbai: A 45-year-old carpenter killed his 20-year-old daughter by poisoning her chicken biryani and later strangled her after she and her sister objected to his remarriage. He had intended to kill her second daughter too, but she escaped since she decided to stay with her uncle on the fateful night.The incident happened on Oct 2. The Wadala police on Wednesday arrested Sharif Raza Hussain Khan for the murder of Rifat; he has been remanded to police custody. She became unconscious when he strangled her to death, said police. Khan tried to pass it off as a case of food poisoning, but doctors observed the strangulation marks on the neck leading to his arrest. Sharif Khan was living with his daughters Rifat, 20, Nuzhat, 16, and 10-year-old son Ahmed in Madonna Colony, Sheikh Mistry Dargah Road, Wadala East. Rifat’s mother had died of cancer in Nov 2025. Rifat and Nuzhat allegedly opposed the move, leading to frequent arguments. Rifat, in particular, was strongly opposed to her father’s remarriage, police said.On Oct 2, the complainant, Rifat’s maternal uncle Abu Khan was in Ludhiana when he received a call informing him that Rifat had died. He was told that Rifat and Nuzhat had eaten biryani brought home by Sharif before going to sleep on the terrace. Nuzhat later left for her aunt Gausia’s house as it was too humid. At around 5am on Oct 3, Sharif allegedly went to Gausia’s house and told her that Rifat was unresponsive. Relatives then took her to a hospital, where doctors declared her dead. “Khan behaved strangely and took her to KEM hospital. As it was a police case, doctors performed a post-mortem and noted evidence of asphyxia with ligature compression of the neck, with samples preserved for histopathological examination and chemical analysis,’’ said an officer. Based on circumstances and post-mortem findings, police arrested Sharif.
