Delhi man shoots woman dead, kills self minutes later with same weapon

Senior officers said the two had met at a local gym around two years ago, but the woman’s in-laws did not approve of their friendship

A 23-year-old man allegedly shot dead a 42-year-old woman outside her house in Vaishali in Dabri Extension of southwest Delhi on Thursday night and later killed himself minutes later using the same country-made pistol on the terrace of a three-storeyed building in the same neighbourhood where he lived with his family in a rented flat, the police said on Friday.

For representational purposes only.

Senior officers said the two had met at a local gym around two years ago, but the woman’s in-laws did not approve of their friendship, her husband in particular. Investigators are probing if the murder-suicide case has any connections with them being acquainted. Preliminary investigations have revealed that they were still on talking terms, the officers said.

“What exactly triggered the man, identified by his first name Ashish, to kill the woman, Renu Goyal, before killing himself is a matter of probe. No suicide note was recovered on Ashish or from his house. We are speaking with members of both families, their relatives, neighbours and friends for clues that may help us the reason behind the murder and suicide,” said deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka) Harsha Vardhan.

Vardhan said the Dabri police station got information about a murder case in Vaishali area at 8.45 pm on Thursday. A police team found the body of the woman who was shot from point-black range outside her house. The bullet had pierced the head from right temple. Upon inquiry, it was found that she was a housewife and is survived by her three children and husband, a property dealer.

“It was not immediately clear who shot Goyal dead. The CCTV cameras were scanned. It was found that a man approached her and shot her from a close range. Thereafter, he left the area. Through the human intelligence network, we learnt about her friendship with a man (Ashish) and that issues had arisen in her family over their friendship,” Vardhan said.

A police team led by an inspector went to Ashish’s house, which is a five-minute walk from the murder spot, and met his family members. The family said he had left home in the evening and did not return. When the team went around looking for him, they found his body with a gunshot wound in his right temple on the terrace. A country-made pistol was found near his right hand, suggesting that he shot himself dead, the DCP said.

People living in the building told the police that they did not hear the gunshot sound, as a birthday party was going on nearby. Ashish’s family is originally from Barauth in Uttar Pradesh, the police said.

“Investigators are scanning the cellphones of Goyal and Ashish to see if there were any text messages that could help them ascertain if there were serious issues between them. There is a possibility that the woman was trying to withdraw herself from the friendship and Ashish did not like it. The source of the firearm is also being ascertained,” said a police officer on conditions of anonymity.

A case of murder has been registered, the police added.