Minor domestic help, boyfriend kills elderly woman in Uttam Nagar

The victim, identified as Usha Kaul, in the early hours of Wednesday. She had not got the domestic help registered with the Delhi Police. The suspects were identified using CCTV footage and were eventually nabbed at the Gorakhpur railway station

A 66-year-old woman, who lived alone in west Delhi’s Uttam Nagar, was robbed and killed by her teenage domestic help and her boyfriend, police officers aware of the case said on Thursday. Police said the domestic help has claimed that she is 17 years old, but this is being verified.

The police said the items recovered from the suspect included six gold bangles, five gold earrings, a gold bracelet, a gold chain, a gold watch, a gold ring and a host of silver jewellery. (HT Photo)

Officers said the victim, identified as Usha Kaul, was killed in her house in Uttam Nagar’s Om Vihar neighbourhood in the early hours of Wednesday. She had not got the domestic help registered with the Delhi Police, nor did she save her phone number — both of which posed a hurdle for investigators. However, the suspects were identified using CCTV footage and were eventually nabbed at the Gorakhpur railway station while fleeing to Bihar, from where they originally hail, police said.

“We have arrested the domestic help, who has claimed to be 17 years old, and her 21-year-old friend Shivam. They are being brought back to Delhi by train for deeper interrogation,” said M Harsha Vardhan, deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka).

The crime came to light on Wednesday afternoon, when neighbours did not receive a response from the house and called Kaul’s son, who in turn called the police.

DCP Vardhan said after perusing CCTV footage, they found that Shivam had entered Kaul’s house at around 2.40am on Wednesday, and left with the domestic help at 4.18am. “In that time, it seems they used some object to beat the woman to death and rob her belongings,” said the DCP.

Since the domestic help’s identity remained unknown, the police checked Kaul’s phone call records and called several persons in her dial list to eventually obtain her phone number.

Simultaneously, the CCTV footage also helped the police gather more clues and reach the rented flat where the two lived. “Thereafter, our investigation revealed that the couple had left for the railway station. By the time we were able to confirm that the couple had boarded the Bihar Sampark Kranti Express, the train was already nearing Gorakhpur,” the DCP said.

The Delhi Police then coordinated with the Railway Police, the Uttar Pradesh Police, and railway staff to capture the suspects when the train rolled into the Gorakhpur railway station on Thursday.

The police said the items recovered from the suspect included six gold bangles, five gold earrings, a gold bracelet, a gold coin, a gold chain, a pearl-embedded gold bracelet, a gold watch, a gold ring and a host of silver jewellery.

While the police are probing if the suspects also stole cash, they have been booked for robbery and murder.