78-yr-old smothered to death in Mayur Vihar

A 78-year-old senior citizen was smothered to death by unidentified assailants at her east Delhi’s Mayur Vihar flat, where she lived alone for the past four years.

A 78-year-old senior citizen was smothered to death by unidentified assailants at her east Delhi’s Mayur Vihar flat, where she lived alone for the past four years.

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The incident came to light at 11.30 am on Tuesday after Saroj, one of the two maids at the house, came to work and found the victim, Sarojini Bartwal, lying unconscious on the floor of the bedroom. The police said entry into the house was friendly and the killers had ransacked the bedroom before fleeing.

Sarojini’s only son Hemendra Bartwal, who lives with his family in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, is a former journalist who now works with foreign mission. Earlier, he was working with Hindustan Times as a political correspondent. Sarojini’s husband Birender Singh Bartwal passed away in 2008.

“There was no visible injury mark on her body, which suggests she was probably smothered to death. The room, where she was murdered, was ransacked. Robbery appears to be the motive behind the murder and we suspect the involvement of someone known to her,” said Prabhakar, adding the victim was a registered senior citizen at Mayur Vihar police station.

“I used to call my mother twice every day. I tried calling her at 9:30 pm on Monday, but her phone was switched off. Presuming that the phone might be off due to low battery, I tried calling her again on Tuesday morning,” added Hemendra.

Since Sarojini was registered at the senior citizen cell, the local beat constable used to visit her house every day. On Monday around 10.30 am, the same beat constable had visited the house, added Prabhakar.