Killers who butchered 15-year-old Delhi domestic help took 3 hours to chop her body, planned murder for a week

Fifteen-year-old Soni was killed for allegedly demanding around Rs 2 lakh that she had earned from working as domestic help over the past three years.

The killers of a 15-year-old girl from Jharkhand, whose dismembered body parts were found in a drain in outer Delhi a fortnight ago, used a cleaver purchased from a market in Nangloi to chop her body into 12 pieces, investigators said on Monday.

The 15-year-old teenager was allegedly brought to Delhi from Jharkhand on the promise of a well-paying job and instead forced to work as domestic help. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The brutal murder was committed around 11pm on May 3 after allegedly planning for a week, the police said. Manjeet Karketa, 30-year-old agent of a fake placement agency, at whose rented house the crime was committed has already been arrested by the police in connection with the case.

Soni was lured to Delhi three years ago from Jharkhand allegedly by Karketa and his associate Rakesh, who is still absconding, with the promise of a high-paying job. However, she was allegedly forced to work as a domestic help at various houses across Delhi. She was murdered by Karketa and three others for demanding her salary, around Rs 2 lakh that she had earned working as a domestic help.

Police said Rakesh was not present at Karketa’s home when the girl was murdered. The two other killers include a woman Gauri, who was also lured to Delhi by the three men and forced to work as domestic help . The third suspect, Shalu, also belongs to a village in Gulma district of Jharkhand. Two teams are camping in Jharkhand and West Bengal to nab the three suspects.

“Karketa has told us that they had panicked because of the girl’s constant threats. The killers first hit her on her head. They then severed her neck before dismembering her limbs and torso. They packed her body parts into bags and then washed the blood from the room. That all took them around three hours,” an investigator said.

Around 3am, Karketa and Shalu picked up the bags, containing the girl’s body parts, and left the home. They walked for almost one and a half kilometers to reach the drain where they dumped the bags and returned. “The three chopped the body because they knew they were living in a densely populated neighbourhood and it was not possible to dispose off the intact body,” added the officer.

The body parts were discovered by a passerby the next day. Police registered a case and launched the probe, during which they analysed more than 100 CCTV cameras on routes leading to the drain. One of the cameras had recorded two suspects carrying the body parts in a bag, but their faces were not clear.

Investigators photographed the girl’s head and launched a door-to-door search in Mianwali and neighbouring areas. They visited 2,500 homes and particularly focused on 200 houses before zeroing in on a house whose two occupants had been missing since the day of the murder. Neighbours were shown the girl’s photo and they confirmed that she was seen there on May 3, said the investigator.

Karketa’s details were collected from his landlord who had photocopies of his Aadhaar card and other identification documents. His permanent address was traced to a village in Gumla. A police team raided his native home and arrested him.