60-yr-old woman raped, killed in east Delhi; 1 held

The disrobed body of a 62-year-old woman, with visible signs of sexual assault, her throat slit and multiple stab wounds to her chest, abdomen and legs, was found at her rented home in east Delhi’s Dallupura village near Mayur Vihar Phase-3 on Sunday afternoon, the police said. Later in the evening, the police arrested her 30-year-old neighbour, whom the police said was the last person seen entering and leaving the woman’s house in the CCTV footage.

Police said during his interrogation, he admitted that he sexually assaulted the elderly woman and later killed her to protect himself. The arrested man reportedly told the police that he was drunk at the time of the crime.

The woman was a vegetable vendor and lived with her 33-year-old son, who works as a security guard in a private company in Noida, and a 13-year-old grandson, the police said. Since the case also involved sexual assault, the names of the dead woman, her son and grandson, the arrested man as well as the exact locality where they live have been withheld to protect her identity, the police said.

“Through technical investigation and inputs received from our informants and locals, we arrested the suspect within four to five hours of the crime. Prime facie, it appears to be a case of sexual assault and murder. The autopsy is being conducted. Further charges would be added as per the findings of the autopsy,” said deputy commissioner of police (east) Priyanka Kashyap.

Police said the crime was reported to them around 2pm on Sunday, after the elderly woman’s son returned home after work, and found his mother’s body in their single room rented accommodation on the ground floor. He raised the alarm and a neighbour informed the police.

Her son said a sickle was used to slit her throat while a knife was used to stab her. Both weapons were recovered from the scene of crime. “The body was on the bed and the door ajar; the water tap in the kitchen was running, and vegetables were burning in a pan when I returned home,” he said.

“The woman’s throat was slit and there were 8-10 stab wounds to her chest and abdomen. The condition in which the body was found pointed to sexual assault. The body was later shifted to a government hospital mortuary for autopsy,” said a senior police officer, adding that a case of murder was registered and investigation was launched.

During the investigation, the officer said statements of the woman’s son and grandson were recorded. Her son told the police that he left for work in the morning while she and the grandson went to sell vegetables from a shop in the neighbourhood. The woman’s grandson told the police that around noon, his grandmother left for home to cook lunch. Around 2pm, the woman’s son returned home and discovered her body, the police said.

As there were no signs of a forced entry into the house, the police suspected the role of someone known to the woman. They inquired with locals and also scanned the CCTV cameras installed around the woman’s house. In one of the cameras, the suspect was seen entering the house around 1pm and leaving around 1.30pm, the police said.

“The beat officers showed the suspect’s image to locals who identified him. The suspect was arrested and interrogated during which he admitted to the crime,” the officer quoted above said.