A 54-year-old woman and her domestic help were stabbed to death at her farmhouse in south-west Delhi’s Vasant Kunj Enclave on Wednesday night. Three accused including the woman’s employee have been arrested, the police said on Thursday.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-West) Devender Arya said the victim identified as Mala Lakhani used to run a boutique and fabric store in Green Park. She was unmarried and used to stay with her domestic help Bahadur who had worked for the family for over 40 years. The victims were allegedly stabbed by Lakhani’s employee Rahul Anwar and his accomplices Rahmat and Wasim.
The accused allegedly committed the crime around 10 p.m. and surrendered before the police a few hours later around 3 a.m. at Vasant Kunj police station following which the arrest was made.
‘Motive was loot’
During interrogation, Rahul, a tailor by profession who used to mostly reside in Lakhani’s bungalow in the staff quarters and work from there, allegedly told the police that the motive behind the murder was loot. He said that he was annoyed with her over payment issues.
He told the police that he had called the victim to the staff quarters on the pretext of showing her a piece he had stitched.
“When she came, Rehmat and Wasim were already present. They had planned the murder, they confessed. When Rahul asked Lakhani for money, she allegedly refused after which they caught hold of her and gagged her. Two of them stabbed her with knives,” said a senior police officer.
Stabbed 5-6 times
About 10 minutes later, Bahadur, belonging to Nepal, came there and the accused allegedly stabbed him as well.
“Both of them [victims] were stabbed in the throat about five-six times,” the officer said adding that the accused then fled in Lakhani’s car after robbing jewellery and bank cards.
Later, after three hours of contemplation, the accused decided to surrender themselves before the police. On the accused’s instance, the bodies were recovered around 3 a.m. and preserved for post-mortem to be conducted on Friday at Safdarjung Hospital mortuary.
Lakhani is survived by her sister Arti Sharma who resides with her family in Gurugram and a brother Gop Lakhani who lives in Goa.
Ms. Sharma’s husband told The Hindu that the family was shocked over the incident and could not believe that Rahul could kill her [Lakhani] for money.
“He had been working with her for over three years. We cannot understand why would he do something like this,” he said.
