Killer may have been known to senior citizen, say police

Daksha Daftary, 62, was alone at home when she was attacked and murdered. However, the police have not found any signs of forced entry.

Daksha Daftary, 62, was alone at home when she was attacked and murdered. However, the police have not found any signs of forced entry.

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“This is an indication that the victim may have known the accused and allowed him or her inside the house,” said an officer from Pant Nagar station, on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.

Daftary was found by her husband lying in a pool of blood, with her throat and wrist slit.

Suresh Nirmal, senior inspector, said, “We are waiting for the postmortem report to ascertain the time of death. We suspect a kitchen knife found at the spot was used in the attack.”

The police suspect that the murder took place in the afternoon.

An officer said they suspected robbery as the motive, but were not sure whether any valuables were missing from the 3BHK flat at Shri Krishna Ashish building, as the victim’s husband, Satish, was in no condition to talk.

He added, “However, we have found that a masseuse would visit Daftary’s house in the afternoon. We will be questioning her. So far, we have no details about her.” Another officer said the building has only one watchman. “When we asked him if he had seen anyone suspicious enter the building, the watchman said he didn’t. He told the police that he had gone to the other side of the building for some work,” he said, adding that the building had no CCTV cameras.

According to the police, the Daftarys have three daughters, who are all married. “The couple stayed alone. During the day, Satish would go to his Ghatkopar office and return late in the evening,” the officers said.