Elderly woman fights back after maid stabs her in Delhi’s Greater Kailash

The maid allegedly wanted the woman to arrange Rs 5 lakh for her mother’s treatment, but the elderly woman told her that she had only Rs 15,000 at home.

An elderly woman in south Delhi’s Greater Kailash was stabbed twice in her neck, allegedly by her domestic help who wanted her to arrange Rs 5 lakh so that she could “get her ill mother treated”.

The elderly woman was speaking to a friend on the phone around 3.30 pm when the maid came from behind and used a dupatta to strangle her.

The 73-year-old woman, however, fought back. She snatched the knife and stabbed the maid in her leg, prompting the attacker to retreat.

The two women were hospitalised with stab injuries, but they were out of danger and discharged from the hospital, said Romil Baaniya, DCP (south). The domestic help has been arrested.

The victim, Neeraj Gupta, lives in GK-1 with her husband, a businessman. Their domestic help, 23-year-old Tulsi, had been working in the house for the last six months. “Tulsi was hired through a personal contact and her police verification had not been done,” said Dependra Pathak, Delhi Police’s chief spokesperson.

“When Tulsi reached our house on Thursday morning, she was crying. She kept saying that her mother was ill. I comforted her,” Gupta said in her complaint to the police. In the afternoon, Tulsi refused to have food and said she had back pain, in a bidto delay her return.

Tulsi attacked Gupta when the elderly woman was speaking to a friend on the phone around 3.30 pm. Gupta alleged that Tulsi came from behind and used a dupatta to strangle her. “I managed to save myself, but then she attacked me with a kitchen knife,” Gupta told the police.

Tulsi allegedly wanted Gupta to arrange Rs 5 lakh for her mother’s treatment, but the elderly woman told her that she had only Rs 15,000 at home. “I told her that I would arrange the money,” Gupta alleged.

When Gupta tried to escape, Tulsi allegedly stabbed her in the neck. In the scuffle that ensued, Gupta snatched the knife from the domestic help and stabbed her in the leg.

“More than being angry, Gupta was hurt. Despite being stabbed in the neck, she told Tulsi that she was killing one mother to save another mother. Gupta even asked the maid to bring her a glass of water, but threw it when Tulsi brought it,” a senior investigator said.

Gupta then called her husband. Tulsi, meanwhile, escaped.

“Tulsi went to a relative’s house and told her that she had been robbed and stabbed by unidentified people. One of her relatives called the police. But when we met Gupta, we got to know the truth and arrested Tulsi,” said DCP Baaniya.