Mumbai: Khar family suspects land grabber behind mother’s death

The alleged grabbing of the multicrore prime property in Khar has stoked a fresh controversy The daughter of 83yearold Yvonne Fernandez whose skeletal remains were found wrapped in a bed sheet under the cot at her Chuim Village bungalow in November last year wants the Accidental Death Report ADR thoroughly investigated She suspects the involvement of Clarence Pereira alias Peter who grabbed their house in Yvonnersquos deathAs part of the lsquoThe old and the vulnerablersquo series midday on Monday highlighted that Yvonnersquos elder daughter Marietta Fernandes and her family have been facing threats from Peter who has grabbed their ancestral propertyThe accused Clarence Pereira alias Peter with his wife Nancy File picldquoWe are wondering if our motherrsquos death was natural or was someone was involved considering that people Peter had eyes on the property and had even called my brother Andrew pressuring him to put my mother in an old age homerdquo M DrsquoPehna the younger daughter of Yvonne who lives abroad told midday ldquoI want the ADR which the Khar police had registered after my motherrsquos death to be thoroughly investigated Also the cause of my motherrsquos death was kept reservedrdquo she addedlsquoThreatened by PeterrsquoIn the previous report Andrew had said that he was threatened by an unknown woman caller from India ldquoThe caller who later identified herself as Nancy had threatened my brother to shift my mother to an old age home else his life will become very difficult So I request Mumbai police to please investigate my motherrsquos death to find out if it was natural or she became the victim of some conspiracy hatched to usurp our multicrore ancestral propertyrdquo said M DrsquoPenhaMarietta who was mentally ill then was found with Yvonnersquos skeletal remains in the bungalow in November last year She told midday that she had wrapped her body in a bed sheet on March 26 2020 after she stopped responding to her Senior inspector at Khar police station Gajanan Kabdule said ldquoThe opinion as to cause of her Yvonnersquos death is kept reserved and the detailed post mortem report is awaitedrdquo Yvonnersquos autopsy was conducted on November 22 and the samples were preserved for necessary examination On the death certificate issued by R N Cooper hospital the date of Yvonnersquos demise was mentioned as November 20 2020Peter gets noticeMeanwhile on Friday Mumbai police launched a search for 61yearold businessman Peter Sources told midday that two officers from Khar police station visited the property on Friday to hand over the notice to Peter but the lsquohouse was lockedrsquoThe bungalow at Chuim Village in Khar on Friday PicAshish RaneldquoWe have pasted the copies of notice at the entrance and the rear gate of the bungalow because it was locked The officers who visited the spot have also taken the signatures of two neighbours as witnessesrdquo said a source The source added that Peter and his family locked the property and disappeared ldquoafter they learnt that Mariettarsquos statement has been recorded at Khar police stationrdquoThe onepage notice which has been addressed to Clarence Pereira Peter and is undersigned by the investigating officer subinspector Tanaji Kolthe on November 19 reads ldquoYou have taken over the property of Marietta Fernandez into your custody You are requested to appear before Khar police station within two days of this notice along with all the documents related to the property to complete our investigation Please inform the undersigned officer before you visitrdquoKabdule confirmed that Peter and his family were not at home But he has told the police that ldquohe will appear before Khar police on Monday with his advocate and documents of the bungalow All the documents provided by him will be put through scrutiny and if anything is found wrong we will take strict necessary legal action against himrdquo he saidldquoMarietta does not have any document to prove her claimsrdquo Kabdule added The role of Thane Mental Hospital TMH where she was admitted before is also under the scanner said Kabdule TMHrsquos medical superintendent Dr Sanjay Bodade had earlier told midday that they had discharged Marietta to her uncle Peter ldquowhose credentials were verified by the local Khar policerdquoHowever Kabdule said Khar police had not verified the ldquocredentials to endorse Peter as her unclerdquo ldquoWe are investigating how Marietta was discharged Also we are checking whether TMH informed the court after discharging MariettardquolsquoCops not cooperating with usrsquoM DrsquoPenha has alleged that police were not cooperating with them when they contacted them via WhatsApp ldquoI called the senior inspector at Khar police station to ask who handed over the Chuim bungalow keys and on what datetime but he disconnected the call after asking why I didnrsquot visit Mumbai when my motherrsquos body was recovered last yearrdquoldquoKabdule is not responding to my calls and messageshellipthough he is reading my messages on WhatsApp I expect Mumbai police to cooperate with the Mumbaikarsrsquo relatives who are settled abroad We are in crisis and need help but the Mumbai police officers are not responding to our calls or messages It is not possible for us to visit India immediatelyrdquo she saidldquoThe pandemic was at its peak when my motherrsquos body was recovered And I had also conveyed the same to Kabdule and Kolthe last yearrdquo she added M DrsquoPenha is now considering hiring a law firm to give Power of Attorney PoA to look into daily updates in the matter related to the grabbing of their bungalow as well as Yvonnersquos ADR