Thieves chopped off woman's legs to steal ankle bracelets

A 35-year-old business woman was murdered and her legs chopped off by two unknown assailants who stole the silver anklets she was wearing at Kokapet, Hyderabad, India, on Tuesday.

The victim, identified as Shankaramma, was the wife of Balappa. The couple owned a scrap business and have a 12-year-old son. Balappa had gone to his friend's house at a nearby village and stayed there on the night the incident occurred.

At 2.30am on Tuesday, two men came to the shop and woke up Shankaramma claiming they had to urgently sell some scrap material. "As soon as Shankaramma opened the door, the duo throttled her and crushed her head with a boulder," Narsingi sub-inspector (SI) P Anjaiah said.

After murdering her, the duo chopped off her legs from below the knees using a sharp-edged stone. "After severing both the legs in this manner, the robbers escaped with her silver anklets," the SI said. The stolen property weighed about 50 tolas (500g).