Domestic help kills elderly employer, injures his wife with knife

According to the Meghwadi police, the victim Sudhir Chiplunkar and his wife Supriya Chiplunkar stay in Shree Samarth Housing Society in Samarth Nagar at Majas Wadi. Police officers said that the incident took place at 7.30pm on Monday when Supriya was in the kitchen while Sudhir was in the drawing room

Mumbai: A domestic help was arrested for allegedly killing his 70-year-old employer and seriously injuring his wife (69), who is currently admitted to Nanavati Hospital. The police said the incident took place on Monday night at Majas Wadi, Jogeshwari East, and the motive appeared to be robbery, though no valuables were stolen by the accused.

Domestic help kills elderly employer, injures his wife with knife

The man has been identified as Pappu Jalinder Gawli (29), who was caught by the police while trying to flee the city.

According to the Meghwadi police, the victim Sudhir Chiplunkar and his wife Supriya Chiplunkar stay in Shree Samarth Housing Society in Samarth Nagar at Majas Wadi. Police officers said that the incident took place at 7.30pm on Monday when Supriya was in the kitchen while Sudhir was in the drawing room.

“Gawli, who had started working for the couple 15 days ago, wanted to rob the couple upon learning that the senior citizens live alone – as their daughter stays in the United Kingdom and their son lives in Canada, and the couple had a considerable amount of jewellery at home,” said Rajendra Mandhare, senior police inspector of Meghwadi police station.

Supriya, who is admitted to the Nanavati Hospital, in her statement to the police said that when she was working in the kitchen, Gawli took a knife from the kitchen platform and assaulted her on her neck.

“The cut was however not deep and Supriya managed to alert her husband Sudhir, who hurried towards the kitchen but before he could raise an alarm, Gawli attacked him as well, stabbing him in his neck and chest,” said Mandhare.

Supriya, who was bleeding from her neck, somehow managed to go to the kitchen window, grabbed two steel bowls, and threw the utensils down from her second-floor flat – to grab the attention of a few children playing in the society compound.

“When the children looked up, they saw injured Supriya in the kitchen window. The kids then rushed to the second floor and rang the doorbell of their flat,” said Mandhare.

As soon as the doorbell rang, Gawli realised that he would get caught and therefore, he opened the door and ran out with the knife still in his hand, Mandhare added.

After noticing the elderly couple injured and bleeding, the children called the police. A police team then rushed to the spot and took the couple to Nanavati Hospital, where Sudhir was declared dead and his wife was reported to be unconscious.

“Before losing consciousness, Supriya gave us the Aadhar card of Gawli to help them identify the accused,” said Maheshwar Reddy, deputy commissioner of police, Zone 10. He said though Gawli intended to rob the couple, he could not even snatch the gold chain, ring or bangles from Supriya.

After registering the case, the police officers scanned the CCTV footage of the building and surrounding area, checked the mobile tower location of Gawli and found him proceeding towards Andheri station. “Gawli was on his way to his village in Solapur district when our officers nabbed him from Dadar railway station - within four hours after the crime,” said Reddy.

Mandhare said that Gawli, who is separated from his wife, stayed with their two children. He moved to Mumbai six months ago while his mother went to Satara to stay with their relatives. After coming to Mumbai, Gawli stayed with his aunt in Andheri East and applied for jobs through online domestic help websites.

“The Chiplunkars had hired him through a website. We have summoned the website owners to record their statements and enquire as to what screening they had done before recruiting Gawli,” said an officer.

The police on Tuesday afternoon recorded the statement of Gawli’s aunt who told the police that after the murder, Gawli had gone to her house to change his clothes, stained with blood, and borrow ₹500 from her for the ticket to Solapur.

“Gawli’s aunt told us that he was short-tempered due to which his wife had separated from him,” said Mandhare.

“We have arrested Gawli and during questioning, he told us that he was going through some stress due to which he attacked the couple,” said Mandhare.

The officer said the children of the elderly couple are expected to arrive in the city on Wednesday.