Updated on: 29TH APRIL 2023 12:37 PM IST | Mumbai
S S NADAR | news@debotimes.in

MUMBAI: Enraged that his daughter was to marry out of the community and then, on finding out that his name was not on her wedding invitation card, a 79-year-old man from Andheri (west) allegedly attacked the bride-to-be on Thursday, just three days prior to her wedding ceremony scheduled for Sunday.

The elderly man, Prabhakar Shetty, also attacked his 68-year-old wife with a hammer and a knife and also tried to strangle her at their Four Bungalows home, the police said.

The injured bride-to-be and her mother have been admitted to hospital and the police quoted doctors as saying that the condition of both the women is stable.

Tension had been brewing in the family as the father was unhappy with his 38-year-old daughter's decision to marry a man who is not from the same community - something which the father did not approve of, said a police officer.

The younger woman had got engaged on Wednesday and only her mother had accompanied her to the venue where the engagement ceremony was held, leaving the father at home.

A day after the engagement, the elderly woman was taking an afternoon nap when she woke up with a start. In her complaint lodged at Versova police station, she stated: "...I saw my husband with a hammer. When I tried to escape, he attacked me on the neck and chest and tried to strangle me even as I screamed for help..."

The daughter, who was in the living room at that time, rushed to her mother's rescue when the father also lunged at her. "Shetty attacked his daughter with a knife on the head, chest, and hand," said a police officer.

Despite the injury she had sustained, the younger woman somehow managed to overpower the elderly man. The wife seized this opportunity to run out of the bedroom and called for help from the neighbours, said senior inspector Siraj Inamdar of Versova police station.

Shetty has been remanded in police custody.

The police said they have intimated their son who works in Scotland. The daughter is employed with a private company and had been taking care of her elderly parents, said the police.