NAVI MUMBAI: Kharghar police arrested a 36-year-old mother of four on Wednesday for allegedly strangulating her 16-year-old daughter as she suspected the girl of being in a sexual relationship with her father .The woman was arrested on Wednesday after the post-mortem report of the victim, a school-going girl, revealed the cause of death as asphyxiation due to strangulation. The crime took place on March 4 at their Kharghar flat. The accused is a homemaker and her husband a civil contractor. Two of their children—the victim and a 12-year-old son—lived with them in Kharghar while the other two—a 20-year-old daughter and a 14-year-old son—resided in their native hometown in Rajasthan.Senior inspector Dilip Kale said, “The accused allegedly strangulated her daughter with her dupatta inside their flat around 10.30am on March 4. At 1.45pm, her husband returned home for lunch. When he saw their daughter in the bedroom, his wife told him that she was fast asleep. Then, around 4pm, she called and informed him that their daughter was motionless. He rushed home to find her dead. By around 7pm, their relatives began to gather at their residence and called the police. Since there were strangulation marks on the girl’s neck, we suspected foul play. Initially, we registered an accidental death case but sent her body for post-mortem to the Panvel rural hospital.”Kale further said, “The victim’s parents took her body to their native place in Rajasthan where they conducted her last rites. Since the post-mortem report revealed the cause of death as choking, we registered a murder case and started a probe.”Cops recorded statements of the girl’s schoolmates, one of whom said the victim had allegedly once told her that her mother had been assaulting her for the past six months as she suspected her of being in a sexual relationship with her father. Her mother had threatened to either kill her or her husband.The schoolmates told cops that the girl had allegedly attempted suicide by consuming phenyl in February and had made up her mind to jump from her building’s terrace, saying she was unable to bear the harassment by her mother.After the victim’s parents returned from Rajasthan on Wednesday, they were summoned to the police station where the woman was grilled. She confessed to the crime and said her daughter always answered back and even hit her on being scolded. “When the accused beat her up a day after the festival of Holi, the girl retaliated and her mother ended up strangulating her with a dupatta,” said Kale and added that they are exploring the possibility of the father protecting the accused despite learning of the crime.“We will probe his role in the crime. As of now, we have registered an FIR under the Indian Penal Code ’s Section 302 (punishment for murder) against the accused woman. She was produced before the Panvel magistrate court on Thursday and has been remanded to police custody till March 27.”