Delhi Lajpat Nagar double murder: House was covered in blood, say police

Investigators said the accused, 24-year-old Mukesh Paswan, a helper at the garment shop, told them that he was humiliated as Ruchika scolded him

NEW DELHI

The house where the murder took place. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

The brutal double murder of a 42-year-old woman and her 14-year-old son at their residence in Block F of Lajpat Nagar-I came as a bolt out of the blue for the residents of the society, as they gathered in droves outside the residence as word of the incident spread quickly on Thursday morning.

An officer at the scene of the crime, requesting anonymity, said: “There was blood all over the house. The woman was lying dead, with her throat slit, in a room on the floor next to the bed. When we opened the washroom, the son was lying dead inside, with his throat slit as well.”

“This has never happened here in this area. Not even an assault has been reported here in recent history. It’s shocking,” said 22-year-old Arnav Chopra, who lives next door to the victims and was among the first to have seen the crime scene.

Around 10pm on Wednesday, 44-year-old Kuldeep Sewani found bloodstains on the staircase of his residence upon returning home from his garment shop in Lajpat Nagar central market, as his wife was not answering calls. After he informed the police, they found his wife, Ruchika Sewani, and son, Krish Sewani, lying in a pool of blood.

Kuldeep told police that he had spoken to his wife around 7.15pm and she was fine then, according to the police.

Sixty-year-old Rekha Makhija, Ruchika’s mother, a Rohini resident, was sitting outside the house on Thursday, not being able to come to terms with the murders. “I spoke to her around 4:30pm. She said she was at the shop as Kuldeep had gone out for some work. I haven’t heard her voice since,” she said, sobbing heavily.

Investigators said the accused, 24-year-old Mukesh Paswan, a helper at the garment shop, told them that he was humiliated as Ruchika scolded him on Wednesday morning for not reporting to work for over a week. “It was revealed that he had taken ₹40,000 in advance and was also given a mobile phone by the family. Ruchika told him to either come to work or return the money,” the officer cited above said.

The officer said he decided to kill her and slit their throats with a small knife. A knife was recovered from the house, but investigators have yet to ascertain if it was the weapon used in the crime.

Ruchika, Kuldeep and their son Krish stayed on the first floor in the five-storey building, of which they owned four floors, their family members said. The couple’s daughter, 21-year-old Kritika, is pursuing her graduation-cum-post graduation in Jammu and reached Delhi on Thursday afternoon.

Family members said that Krish was a budding cricketer and wanted to pursue a career in cricket and join his father’s garment business.

Eighteen-year-old Hriday Makhija, Krish’s cousin, said he was really passionate about cricket and was enrolled in an academy. “He was playing for a private club called Uttarakhand Strikers as well. He was in Class 10, studying in Tagore International and wanted to opt for commerce next year, after which he either wanted to pursue cricket or join his father’s business,” Hriday said.

Varsha Sachdeva, Ruchika’s maternal aunt, said: “The boy had not done anything. The man killed him because our child saw the murder. A bright life was cut short.”

The family had been living in the house for over a decade, after shifting from old Lajpat Nagar, and had been running the garment shop since the days of Kuldeep’s grandfather.

Satbir Singh, who runs a garment shop next to Kuldeep’s, said the incident shook him. “We will think twice before trusting our helpers,” he said.

Surender Kumar, another helper at Kuldeep’s shop, said that Paswan was a man of few words. “He was slightly lazy. Kuldeep ji never scolded him. But he would sometimes get angry,” the fellow helper said.