A 70-year-old physically-challenged woman was found dead under mysterious circumstances at her residence in Sector 21 on Sunday. The family members alleged she was murdered, while police claim she died of a natural death as the postmortem report suggest she suffered a heart attack. The family members also stated `30,000, gold earrings, gold bangles and mobile phone were missing.
The victim has been identified as Satya Devi, who was 80% physically challenged and could not walk. Her husband Pankaj, 75, is hearing impaired and the couple was living alone.
Dr Pankaj, who retired as post master from the Panchkula general post office (GPO), said he went to sleep around 10pm on Saturday, while his wife was watching Janmashtami programme on television. The couple used to sleep in separate rooms in their one-floor house.
He woke up around 6:30 in the morning and went to wake her up as in routine. Pankaj said he tired to wake her up a few times but when she did not respond, he went near and found her dead.
Presuming she died of a natural death, Pankaj started looking for his mobile phone to inform his daughter Chaya, a resident of Sector 28 in Panchkula. However, he could not locate his phone and went to his neighbour's house to call his daughter around 7:30am. Chaya told HT she started informing about the death of her mother to their relatives after reaching her parents' house. But at around 12:30pm, she noticed injury marks on her mother's neck and her gold earrings and bangles were also missing. She informed her father and other relatives about it.
Pankaj stated their relatives suggested not informing police as the last rites would get delayed due to police investigation. However, he said, his daughter insisted upon informing the cops. The police were called in and a team of Sector 5 police station reached the spot. Experts from forensic science laboratory also visited the spot. The body was taken to Government Hospital in Sector 6 where the post mortem was conducted.
Pankaj stated their relatives suggested not informing police as the last rites would get delayed due to police investigation. However, he said, his daughter insisted upon informing the cops. The police were called in and a team of Sector 5 police station reached the spot. Experts from forensic science laboratory also visited the spot. The body was taken to Government Hospital in Sector 6 where the post mortem was conducted.
Police version
Sector-5 police station SHO inspector Lalit Kumar said the postmortem report clearly states the victim died of a heart attack. The postmortem was conducted by a panel of two doctors. One of the doctors, Dr Sunil Ghambir, told HT the victim died of heart attack and ruled out strangulation.
Meanwhile, the police are investigating the theft case as reported by the family. "We are looking into the theft as reported by the family," said Lalit, who stated there is a possibility that someone close to the family might have stolen the valuables. The proceedings have been initiated under section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).