East Delhi snatching victim dies after 12 days in hospital

The two perpetrators were arrested five days after the crime following a five-kilometre chase on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway. They will now be charged with the woman’s murder, police said

After battling for her life for 12 days, a 40-year-old woman who became comatose when she fell off a moving e-rickshaw while resisting a snatching bid in east Delhi succumbed to her injuries early Saturday, police said.

The 40-year-old woman went into coma after she fell off a moving e-rickshaw while resisting the snatching bid in east Delhi. (Picture for representation only)

The two perpetrators were arrested five days after the crime following a five-kilometre chase on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway. They will now be charged with the woman’s murder, police said.

The woman, identified by her first name Ritu, was headed to Gurmeet banquet hall in Surajmal Vihar area with her sister-in-law, Priya Trehan, and niece, Nandani, to attend the wedding of their neighbour around 1pm on February 7, when the two motorcycle-borne men snatched her bag. She fell off the e-rickshaw while resisting, suffered a brain haemorrhage and slipped into a coma. She was put on ventilator support in a private hospital in Patparganj the same day.

“Ritu was declared brain dead on the first day and put on ventilator support. The doctors tried their best to save her life. Unfortunately, she took her last breath around 3am on Saturday,” said a senior police officer.

Police said one of the arrested men, Manish alias Rishi (41), has been involved in 106 cases of snatching in the last 14 years. He was also involved in a case of attempt to murder and attack on members of the special cell in 2016. The second arrested man, identified as Mohit Gupta (34), previously owned two restaurants but suffered losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic, said police.

They mostly targeted women or elderly people walking or travelling in three-wheelers outside shopping malls in east Delhi and Ghaziabad areas, said deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara) R Sathiyasundaram.

The snatchers were earlier booked for attempt to commit culpable homicide, voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery and common intention under Indian Penal Code’s sections 308, 394 and 34 at the Anand Vihar police station, based on Trehan’s complaint.

“Now that the victim is dead, we are adding murder charges against them under Section 302 of IPC. The men are currently in jail,” the officer added.