A 71-year-old woman was found murdered with a dupatta around her neck at her home in South-East Delhi’s Kalkaji on Monday evening.
Her family told the police that some cash and a lot of jewellery are missing from the house, suggesting that robbery could have been the motive.
The victim, Harneet Kaur, lived in Kalkaji’s E-Block with her son Mandeep Singh, daughter-in-law and a grandson. Her second son lives with his family in South-West Delhi’s Dwarka.
The deceased was alone at home with Lalit, a recently-hired domestic help, at the time of the incident. Lalit told the police that he was bathing on the terrace at the time of the crime.
The murder came to light around 7.15 p.m. on Monday when the daughter-in-law of the deceased returned. She found the main gate open and a motionless Harneet on the floor.
Cash, jewellery missing
Though there were injuries on her body, which indicate a scuffle with the killers, she is believed to have been strangled.
The almirah had been forced open and around Rs. 80,000 cash and jewellery worth lakhs was found missing. The entire house had been ransacked.
The police were immediately informed and the victim rushed to a hospital where she was declared brought dead. A case of murder and robbery has been registered at the Kalkaji police station.
While Lalit’s role is being probed, senior police officers said their focus was on the two domestic helps who were recently dismissed from service.
The investigators are also looking at CCTV camera footage from near the victim’s house.
In one footage, she is seen going out of the house in the afternoon and returning a few minutes before her murder.
