The 33-year-old woman, who was found stabbed to death in the Mauli Jagran forest area on January 15, was murdered by her lover, who was troubled by her continuous blackmail and extortion threats, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, Salim, alias Shamim, 48, a resident of Mauli village, has been arrested. He runs a cycle and rickshaw repair shop in the village.
The victim, Rozina Begum, who also lived in Mauli village, worked as a sanitation worker at the Mauli Jagran police station.
“The victim had an extra-marital relationship with Salim for the past five years. She had been extorting money from him after threatening to implicate him or his son in a rape or sexual harassment case,” said sub-inspector Vilayati Ram Saini, station house officer, Government Railway Police (GRP).
Police had recovered a small knife from the spot when Rozina’s body was found with 17 stab injuries. A case under Section 302 (murder) was registered on the complaint of her husband, Chotte Khan. The post-mortem examination had ruled out sexual assault.
Had already paid ₹1 lakh: Accused
{{/usCountry}}Had already paid ₹1 lakh: Accused
{{/usCountry}}During preliminary questioning, the accused claimed he had already paid ₹1 lakh to Rozina over the past seven months, but she would keep asking for more every other day.
To fulfil Rozina’s extortion demands, he also had to borrow money from acquaintances. “Salim was perturbed as his wife was not keeping well, his daughter had to undergo an eye operation and he was finding it difficult to run the house due to Rozina’s demands,” said a police official, privy to the probe.
Himself crafted knife used in crime
Investigators said to murder Rozina, the accused crafted a knife at his own shop. On January 15, he waited outside the police station, where Rozina worked and used to leave around 6pm.
Familiar with him, Rozina didn’t suspect anything when he accompanied her home in an auto-rickshaw. On the way, he asked her to accompany her for a walk for a talk. As they reached the forest area of Mauli Jagran, the accused stabbed her multiple times and dumped her body there, before returning home.
When the woman was found dead, her family had immediately raised suspicion on Salim, but he claimed alibi. “The CCTV cameras and cyber experts helped nail the lie of the accused, who had maintained that he was present at his shop between 5pm and 9pm and later went to his house,” said SHO Saini.
The accused was produced before a court and sent to three-day GRP custody.
Victim was sole breadwinner
According to police, Rozina had been working as a temporary cleaner at the police station for the last six months and was the sole breadwinner of the family.
Hailing from Bangladesh, Rozina had married Chotte, who is disabled, about 19 years back, after her first husband deserted her. The couple has a son and a daughter, apart from another daughter from Rozina’s first marriage.
Her murder had shocked the city as the victim’s body was recovered just three days after the body of a naked and gagged woman was found in Maloya. Police are yet to make any headway in that case.