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Killed in a fight over rice
A chubby Queens woman hacked her mother-in-law to death with a meat cleaver after the older woman refused to serve her rice with dinner because it's too fattening, authorities said yesterday.
The unwanted diet advice sparked a gruesome end for Farida Begum, a 74-year-old grandmother who died yesterday morning, hours after the vicious dinnertime attack in an apartment across the street from Elmhurst Hospital Center.
Ayesha Akter, 32, was undergoing a psychiatric evaluation yesterday. Her neighbors in Elmhurst said she had long behaved oddly - but had never been violent. Police said she had been treated for mental problems and may have gone off her medication.
Akter apparently snapped while she and Begum were sitting down to dinner Saturday in the Layton St. apartment, where the family settled after arriving from Bangladesh.
Akter told police she erupted after her mother-in-law refused to give her rice, saying it was too fattening, said sources, who, like neighbors, described both women as overweight.
She picked up the meat cleaver and started hacking away - smashing Begum's skull, cutting off one of her fingers and leaving gaping wounds in her arms, sources said.
One neighbor in the building at 42-02 Layton St., near Baxter Ave., said he heard a commotion from the second-floor apartment around 5p.m. - but assumed that it was Akter having an argument with her two sons.
"I wish I heard [Begum] cry out for help. I would have knocked down the door or something," said the neighbor, who did not want his name used. "Of course I feel bad."
Akter's husband, an insurance salesman, and the couple's sons returned home about 7:40 p.m. Saturday to discover Begum in a bloody heap and Akter nearby, sources said.
Begum was rushed across the street to the hospital, where she died about 5 a.m. yesterday.
Suspect often on street
Neighbors said Akter's husband was often seen walking outside, arm in arm with his mother. They also noticed that Akter acted strangely at times.
"She used to hang out on this corner ... and the man, I guess, he was a working man like me, and the kids were good," said a neighbor, who also asked not to be identified.
Another neighbor, a 19-year-old man, said he would often see Akter, who stands about 5 feet tall and weighs about 180 pounds, roam the street mumbling to herself.
"She's a little crazy. She be walking and, like, praying, walking back and forth," said the man, who also did not want to be named.
Akter was charged yesterday with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. She was being held in the psychiatric unit at Elmhurst Hospital Center.
Killed in a fight over rice
A chubby Queens woman hacked her mother-in-law to death with a meat cleaver after the older woman refused to serve her rice with dinner because it's too fattening, authorities said yesterday.
The unwanted diet advice sparked a gruesome end for Farida Begum, a 74-year-old grandmother who died yesterday morning, hours after the vicious dinnertime attack in an apartment across the street from Elmhurst Hospital Center.
Ayesha Akter, 32, was undergoing a psychiatric evaluation yesterday. Her neighbors in Elmhurst said she had long behaved oddly - but had never been violent. Police said she had been treated for mental problems and may have gone off her medication.
Akter apparently snapped while she and Begum were sitting down to dinner Saturday in the Layton St. apartment, where the family settled after arriving from Bangladesh.
Akter told police she erupted after her mother-in-law refused to give her rice, saying it was too fattening, said sources, who, like neighbors, described both women as overweight.
She picked up the meat cleaver and started hacking away - smashing Begum's skull, cutting off one of her fingers and leaving gaping wounds in her arms, sources said.
One neighbor in the building at 42-02 Layton St., near Baxter Ave., said he heard a commotion from the second-floor apartment around 5p.m. - but assumed that it was Akter having an argument with her two sons.
"I wish I heard [Begum] cry out for help. I would have knocked down the door or something," said the neighbor, who did not want his name used. "Of course I feel bad."
Akter's husband, an insurance salesman, and the couple's sons returned home about 7:40 p.m. Saturday to discover Begum in a bloody heap and Akter nearby, sources said.
Begum was rushed across the street to the hospital, where she died about 5 a.m. yesterday.
Suspect often on street
Neighbors said Akter's husband was often seen walking outside, arm in arm with his mother. They also noticed that Akter acted strangely at times.
"She used to hang out on this corner ... and the man, I guess, he was a working man like me, and the kids were good," said a neighbor, who also asked not to be identified.
Another neighbor, a 19-year-old man, said he would often see Akter, who stands about 5 feet tall and weighs about 180 pounds, roam the street mumbling to herself.
"She's a little crazy. She be walking and, like, praying, walking back and forth," said the man, who also did not want to be named.
Akter was charged yesterday with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. She was being held in the psychiatric unit at Elmhurst Hospital Center.
