72-year-old woman stabbed to death in east Delhi

A 72-year-old woman was killed by unidentified persons who allegedly stabbed her with a thin, sharp object under a railway bridge in east Delhi's Mandawali

A 72-year-old woman riding a scooter was killed by unidentified persons who allegedly stabbed her with a thin, sharp object under a railway bridge in east Delhi’s Mandawali on Tuesday afternoon, police officers said.

The nature of multiple injuries on her upper body, including the face, suggested that she was stabbed repeatedly with an object that could vary from an icepick to a large syringe, police said. (FILE)

The nature of multiple injuries on her upper body, including the face, suggested that she was stabbed repeatedly with an object that could vary from an icepick to a large syringe, they said.

Amrutha Guguloth, deputy commissioner of police (east), said prima facie it didn’t appear to be a murder over robbery. “We are investigating the circumstances of the murder. We have registered a murder case at Mandawali police station and are investigating,” said the DCP.

The woman, identified as Sudha Gupta, lived alone in Guru Nanakpura in Laxmi Nagar. Her husband passed away sometime in 2010-11, said the DCP based on the preliminary probe. “She has three sons and two daughters. Two of her sons are doctors while a third is a property dealer,” said the DCP.

The police did not immediately share the job profiles of her daughters who are married and living separately with their families.

“Her family has several properties, and she would look after them,” said the DCP.

The police’s initial probe has suggested that the woman was going Mandawali towards Preet Vihar on her Hero Pleasure scooter on Tuesday afternoon. Around 2.30pm, two separate calls were made to the police control room (PCR). The first reported that a woman was stabbed by two young men. The second said that a woman was being taken to a nearby private hospital, said the DCP.

Relatives and friends of the victim have informed the police about a confrontation involving a roadside vendor in a neighbourhood where one of her properties are located. The police are also probing if the woman happened to be intervening in a quarrel and got into the situation herself.

Prima facie, the police have learnt that the woman was out to collect rent from one of her tenants.

A police team, which reached the hospital, was told that doctors referred Gupta for treatment to Max Hospital, Patparganj, after a medico-legal examination (MLC). “The MLC from the first hospital opined that the woman received injuries in a road accident,” said the DCP.

When the police reached Max Hospital, they were informed that the woman succumbed to her injuries. “Here, when the police personnel examined the woman’s body, they noticed multiple piercing wounds on her left shoulder, face, sides of her chest, waist and on her back,” Guguloth.

The officer said that it was unclear if the wounds were all inflicted at the same time, or over a time period.

The police team then sought the opinion of the Max Hospital doctors who too said that there were “multiple piercings by a sharp object”, said the DCP.