Husband dead, affairs with brothers-in-law, and mother-in-law murdered for property: The full story of the Pooja Jatav saga

In Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi district, a 29-year-old woman named Pooja Jatav is accused of killing her mother-in-law over a land dispute on 24th June 2025. It, however, has emerged that beyond the alleged land dispute, the case revolves around a disturbing saga of multiple marriages, betrayal, and murder.

On 24th June 2025, a 60-year-old Sushila Devi, who lived in the Tahrauli area of Jhansi, was found dead under suspicious circumstances. When Sushila’s daughter-in-law, Pooja Jatav, vanished following the murder, the case—which had been initially investigated as a potential robbery—took a sinister turn as more details emerged. When Pooja suddenly disappeared, suspicions were aroused, and investigators started looking further.

Game of greed: Pooja Jatav conspired to kill her mother-in-law to grab the family land

According to reports, Pooja Jatav intended to permanently relocate to Gwalior and sell eighteen bighas of her in-laws’ family land in Jhansi. Currently under family control, the land was officially the property of her late husband, Kalyan. Sushila Devi vehemently opposed Pooja’s intentions of selling the property, even though other family members, such as her father-in-law and brother-in-law Santosh, were apparently willing to offer her share. Sushila Devi, however, did not give consent to sign the property papers, thus enraging Pooja Jatav.

Subsequently, accused Pooja Jatav hatched a conspiracy to kill Sushila Devi with the help of her sister Kamini and his boyfriend Anil Verma. Per the plan, Kamini and Anil drove 125 km to Jhansi on the evening of 24th June, waited until the house was vacant and then gave Sushila Devi a poison injection. After this, they strangled the 60-year-old woman to death. Subsequently, they proceeded to steal jewellery valued at Rs 8 lakh and escape the crime scene.

When Pooja did not come home after the funeral, suspicion arose. Police brought her in for interrogation due to her suspicious absence, inconsistent statements, and her mobile data. After being questioned for a long time, she finally admitted to plotting the murder

Consequently, Pooja and Kamini were taken into custody and imprisoned. Meanwhile, the police also nabbed Anil Verma.

Pooja Jatav, her multiple marriages, live-in relationship and betrayal for property

As if the cold-blooded murder of an old woman by her own mother-in-law was not disturbing enough, details about the accused Pooja Jatav’s multiple marriages within her first husband’s family have also emerged.

Pooja Jatav’s first marriage was with a Gwalior resident. That marriage, however, turned bitter after allegations of domestic violence emerged. Pooja was allegedly shot by her husband during one of their fights and the matter reached court. During the legal proceedings, Pooja met Kalyan. The two soon grew close as Kalyan sympathised with Pooja and eventually got married.

However, six years after their marriage, Kalyan reportedly died in a road accident. Pooja wasted no time and indulged in an affair with her deceased second husband’s elder brother and her brother-in-law, Santosh. He was married, nonetheless, Pooja moved into Santosh’s house and started staying in a live-in relationship with Santosh and began claiming marital rights. This, however, did not go well with Santosh’s wife, who often confronted Pooja over her illicit affair with her husband.

While frequent quarrels over this matter occurred in the family, accused Pooja Jatav started pressuring the family to give her 50 per cent share in the ancestral land. Pooja argued that she deserves a share in the family property since she is Kalyan’s widow. Although Santosh and other family members were willing to settle the matter as Pooja wished, however, Kalyan’s mother, Sushila Devi (deceased victim), remained reluctant.

Some reports say that rumours of Pooja’s alleged illicit relationship with her father-in-law added to the ongoing tumult in the family. As Sushila Devi refused to give Pooja her demanded share in the family property and also grew suspicious over Pooja’s alleged inappropriate relationship with her father-in-law, Pooja decided to eliminate her mother-in-law.

With Santosh and other family members not supporting her strongly, Pooja Jatav decided to kill Sushila Devi to obtain property share. She then conspired to kill her mother-in-law. Pooja involved her sister Kamini and his boyfriend Anil in the plan to first kill Sushila Devi, seize gold and other valuables, and pass off the murder as ‘robbery gone wrong’.

However, the Tahrauli Police registered an FIR on the complaint lodged by the deceased victim’s husband and dissected the crime layer by layer. Currently, all the accused persons, Pooja, Kamini and Anil, have been arrested. The police have imposed IPC sections pertaining to murder, conspiracy, and robbery. Meanwhile, the police are reported to be investigating whether other cases, including her second husband Kalyan’s death, also have any criminal conspiracy angle.

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