Delhi woman, 3 daughters found with slit throats in Samaypur Badli; husband prime suspect

Deputy police commissioner Hareshwar Swami said that the killings came to light around 8am on Wednesday when neighbours alerted them

A 30-year-old woman and her three daughters aged five, four, and three were found murdered in their rented accommodation in north Delhi’s Samaypur Badli on Wednesday morning, police said adding that the husband is the prime suspect and on the run.

The fake robbery was staged in the western part of the city, with the case being reported at the Moti Nagar PS. (Hindustan Times File)

Police said that the motive is yet to be ascertained.

Events leading to the tragedy

Deputy commissioner of police (outer north) Hareshwar Swami said that the deceased were identified as Anita, and her three daughters. The family is originally from Patna district in Bihar and had been living in this rented accommodation in Chandan Park. The suspect has been identified as Munchun Kewat who sells ginger in Azadpur Mandi. “The killings came to light around 8 am when neighbours alerted the police. A police team from Samaypur Badli police station rushed to the spot and found the bodies of the woman and the three children lying inside a ground-floor room in a pool of blood,” the officer said. According to police, their throats were found slit with a sharp-edged weapon.

“The crime team and forensic science laboratory team have inspected the scene and collected exhibits,” Swami said adding that Kewat has been missing since early morning. “He is absconding and multiple teams have been constituted to trace and apprehend him”.

A case under Section 103(1) (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has been registered at SP Badli police station. While Anita, Kewat and their three daughters lived in a single-room accommodation in a street in Chandan Vihar, Kewat’s two elder brothers lived three streets away with their families on rent. All the brothers Anita’s sister-in-law Sugni Devi, 36, said that her 10-year-old son wanted to go to Azadpur Mandi with his paternal uncle. “He had been pestering us that he wanted to go to the market so we told him to go with Munchun. Around 6:30-7am, he went to their house,” Sugni said sitting next to the 10-year-old.

The boy described the scene as “gory”. “The main gate was closed from outside so I opened it and went inside. Their room’s door was open but the curtain was raised. I went inside and found them unconscious with blood all around,” the boy said.

The boy then told the neighbours - two men who live next door - who saw the bodies and then alerted another neighbour Sushma Devi, 35, who lives on the floor above. She came and then called the police. The family said that the couple got married in 2016. “She gave birth to three children so our family decided that she needed care with her health so she better stay with her own family most of the time,” another sister-in-law Soni Devi, 31, said. The family further said that Anita and the daughters had come to Delhi only six months ago and that there was no marital discord between the couple known to them. “Everything was fine between them. He was affectionate towards his family and cared for them. In fact, on Tuesday night, they went shopping for Holi as well,” said Soni.

Kewat loved his daughters too, they said. “He loved his daughters and used to bring a lot of food and clothes for them every now and then,” Soni added. Neighbours claimed too that the couple was living together happily and they didn’t hear anything on Tuesday night.

Their next door neighbour Parul, 18, who had been living here for the last two-three months said that initially, the couple fought a few times. “Initially, I saw Munchun beat her too but that ended early. Things have been fine between them lately,” she said.

Sushma Devi, who lives upstairs, said that the couple had moved to this room about four months ago and she was awake till 1:30am on Wednesday but heard nothing. “The three girls were very happy living here and they would often come to my house to eat. On Tuesday, I met Anita around 7pm and everything seemed okay,” she said.

An investigator, however, said that one of the neighbours told them that the couple had a verbal spat on Tuesday night. “They said that the couple had a fight but they did not hear anything except loud voices so we don’t know the cause of the fight,” the officer said. Investigators who accessed the CCTV footage saw the accused running - around 5am - from the street close to home. “His phone was switched off in Jahangirpuri,” he said.