E-Paper
72-year-old woman’s murder: Panchkula domestic help, kin sent to one-day police remand
An official privy to the matter said, during the remand period, the police will question the trio regarding the alleged theft of jewellery belonging to the deceased
A local court on Wednesday remanded domestic help Sunita, her husband Shankar, and their son Raja to one-day police custody for their alleged involvement in the murder of 72-year-old Neera Mehta.
According to the police, Mehta, wife of retired Army Captain Manmohan Lal Mehta, was strangled to death in Panchkula’s Sector 21 on Monday evening.
An official privy to the matter said, during the remand period, the police will question the trio regarding the alleged theft of jewellery belonging to the deceased. The police will also take them to the house where the murder took place to recreate the sequence of events.
An official in the know said that during questioning, the 50-year-old Sunita allegedly told police that the deceased had used abusive language against her while accusing her of stealing jewellery, which she claimed she had not taken. She also alleged that Neera Mehta called her a betrayer despite her having worked at the victim’s house for several years.
Sunita claimed that the victim searched the entire room, opened the almirah and checked belongings but did not find any stolen jewellery. Following the argument, Sunita allegedly attacked the victim in a fit of rage and strangled her, the police said.
Meanwhile, during a visit to the house where Sunita was residing with her husband and son, neighbours told HT that the family had been living there for the past three to four months. They said Sunita used to work at a few houses and they had not heard any complaints against her.
The owner of the house, where Sunita was staying as a caretaker on the top floor, is from Bihar. She has reportedly been living in Patna for around one and a half years after her husband died of kidney failure.
