Delhi: 88-year-old woman murdered at her Karawal Nagar house

Deputy commissioner of police (northeast) Sanjay Kumar Sain said the Dayalpur police station received the call at around 9am, following which a police team was dispatched and discovered the murder.

An 88-year-old woman was murdered at her home in northeast Delhi’s Karawal Nagar, police officers aware of the case said on Monday, adding that the assailants allegedly made away with cash and valuables worth lakhs of rupees.

Shanti Devi lived alone in a single-storey, eight bedroom house after her husband Om Prakash Sharma died in January 2018. Her family members have alleged that her body was found bound and gagged on a bed. (HT Photo)

Shanti Devi lived alone in a single-storey, eight bedroom house after her husband Om Prakash Sharma died in January 2018. Her family members have alleged that her body was found bound and gagged on a bed.

Devi was cremated on Monday -- her husband’s birth anniversary.

The murder came to light on Sunday morning when Vansh Gupta, a neighbour, found a door to Devi’s house was ajar. He knocked multiple times but Devi did not respond, following which he called his grandfather, who advised him to contact police.

Deputy commissioner of police (northeast) Sanjay Kumar Sain said the Dayalpur police station received the call at around 9am, following which a police team was dispatched and discovered the murder.

“The house was ransacked. The crime scene was cordoned off. The entire house was inspected by the crime spot inspection team and experts from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL). Accordingly, a case of murder and robbery was registered under Indian Penal Code’s sections 302 and 392. We are trying to ascertain how much cash, jewellery and what all valuables were stolen from the house,” said Sain.

Devi’s grandson Daksh Sharma said, “My grandmother’s hands and legs were tied with cloth, while her mouth was also gagged. Though there no visible injury marks on the body, police suspect that she may have been strangled.”

Meanwhile, Devi’s eldest son Deepak Kumar Sharma (69) said her mother continued to live alone in the Karawal Nagar house despite pleas by him and his siblings for her to move in with them.

“She was a self-dependent woman and survived on her husband’s pension. She had employed a domestic help who cooked food and did other household jobs during the day,” said Deepak, and added that the open door of the house was first spotted by a newspaper hawker, who informed the neighbour about it.

An officer probing the case said that multiple police teams have been formed to identify and nab the perpetrators, adding that they suspect that someone known to Devi may have tipped off some professional criminals about the layout of the house, and the fact that the elderly woman lived alone and kept cash, jewellery and other valuables at home.

Gupta, the neighbour, said, “There was a religious gathering in our neighbourhood on Saturday night. We suspect that the killers took advantage of the loud music to enter the house, kill her and steal cash and valuables. The suspects used the lane outside our house since it is not covered by CCTV cameras… It suggests that the killers had conducted a detailed reconnaissance of the house, the entry and exit routes.”