Vasant Vihar murder: ‘As I woke up, I saw Kitty Amma dead in her room’

The 33-year-old Devi said that around four or five days before the incident, she joined “Kitty Amma’s house”. Her job was to prepare dinner between 6pm and 9.30pm.

An eyewitness account has thrown light on the sequence of events at Vasant Vihar’s building number A 15/19 on the evening of July 7, the day three men murdered Kitty Kumarmangalam, 70, wife of former Union minister Phanindranath Rangarajan Kumarmangalam, inside her second floor apartment in the building.

Police officials seen outside the residence of Kitty Kumaramangalam, wife of late former Union Minister P Rangarajan Kumaramangalam, where she was murdered during a robbery bid at Vasant Vihar, in New Delhi, India, on Wednesday, July 07, 2021. (Photo by Sanchit Khanna/ Hindustan Times)

HT has seen the statement of crucial witness, Kitty’s domestic help, Mithila Devi (33), who was inside the house and was strangled by the three men until they thought she was dead. But Mithila, who survived the attack, woke up about an hour after the incident, and told the police in minute detail what happened that evening.

It is on Mithila Devi’s statement that police were able to identify the three men — Raju Lakhan Kanojia (24), Rakesh Raj (34), and Suraj (yet to be arrested) and solve the case.

The 33-year-old Devi said that around four or five days before the incident, she joined “Kitty Amma’s house”. Her job was to prepare dinner between 6pm and 9.30pm.

Police have said that Raju, who was a regular at the house, expected only the elderly woman to be home. He did not know Mithila was hired at the house. The three were so confident they would find Kitty alone that they did not even carry a weapon.

“I reached Kitty Amma’s house around 6.30pm and was preparing potatoes, capsicum and rotis for dinner. She specially asked me to prepare it. At around 8.30pm, when I was washing the dishes, the doorbell rang. When I opened the door, I saw laundryman Raju, who works in B and C blocks. He was holding a heap of clothes. I told Kitty Amma about it, and she asked me to collect the clothes from Raju. To take the clothes, I opened the door a little. At that moment, Raju kicked the door and threw the heap of clothes on the floor,” Mithila told police.

Narrating what happened next, Mithila, who lives in the nearby servant quarters, said Raju smothered her with one hand; held her hair by another, and dragged her to a room.

“At that moment, I saw two other men entering the house and directly going towards Kitty Amma’s bedroom. They started assaulting her. I tried to free myself and shout. Raju called his two friends to the room. He told them he could not restrain me. The two men then came to the room. One of them, who was of heavy build, removed his belt and strangled me. I tried to hold the belt to ensure that it did not choke me. Raju then held on to the belt from one side and the second man held it from the other side. They pulled it in opposite directions. One of them also covered my nose to stop me from breathing,” she told police.

Mithila mentioned that at that moment, she heard Raju telling his accomplices she worked in B block and he could identify her.

“And then I fell unconscious. When I woke up around 9.30pm, I saw Kitty Amma dead on the floor in her room. They used a pillow to smother her. The whole room was ransacked. Those men also stole my gold necklace, earrings and a nose ring. I then called my husband and told him what had happened. I could barely walk but somehow managed to go down the stairs and alerted everyone,” said her statement.

On Tuesday night, about an hour after the murder, the three went to a wooded area on Nelson Mandela Marg, and shared the stolen cash and valuables. They then broke open the stolen locker. All they found was a bunch of papers.