70-year-old woman found murdered in Delhi home

In yet another incident where women senior citizens have been targeted in the Capital, a 70-year-old woman who retired from Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) was found murdered at her east Delhi home.

In yet another incident where women senior citizens have been targeted in the Capital, a 70-year-old woman who retired from Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) was found murdered at her east Delhi home.

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Suman Bala Bhatnagar was found dead in her bedroom at around 4pm. She stayed alone on the ground floor of a house in Chitra Vihar area near Preet Vihar, said Ajay Kumar, DCP (east).

Police suspect the murder to be the fallout of a resisted robbery attempt.

The police said that the way the crime had been executed, more or less, was reminiscent of many similar cases which had seen female senior citizens staying alone being targeted by small-time, local criminals for insignificant amounts of cash.

“We received a call from one of her tenants who stays on the first floor of the same building around 3:25pm,” said DCP Kumar. “The caller stated that someone had strangled her landlady,” DCP Kumar added.

A police team was rushed to the spot and found Bhatnagar lying on her bed with blood oozing out of her ears and nose. Visible strangulation marks were found on her neck.

Investigation of the crime scene by a forensics team revealed no signs of forced entry or any ransacking —leading investigators to conjecture that her murderer was known to her.

“It seems the person who executed the crime was aware of precisely where she kept her cash and valuables; while we are still in the process of ascertaining the worth of the stolen goods, the booty taken is not substantial,” DCP Kumar said adding that a case of murder and robbery had been registered.

A widow, Bhatnagar’s husband too had retired from the MEA; he passed away recently. The couple had three children — two daughters and a son. While their daughters stay in Dilshad Garden and Geeta Colony, their son lives and works in Chennai.