Teen domestic help killed for demanding salary, one held

Victim from Jharkhand; body was chopped into three pieces

A man has been arrested for killing a 16-year-old girl and dumping her body, after chopping it into three pieces, in north-west Delhi’s Mianwali Nagar, the police said on Sunday.

On May 4, the police said they received a call regarding a dismembered body found stuffed inside a bag that was stuck in a drain in Jawalapuri.

Photo circulated

“The body was freshly dumped. The victim appeared to be a young girl and her face was visible. We took a picture of the girl and circulated it among our network of informers to identify her,” said ADCP (Outer) Rajendra Singh Sagar.

“We checked footage from nearly 60 CCTV cameras on all possible routes towards the drain where the body was found. In one of the footage, we spotted a man carrying a bag similar to the one in which the body was recovered. However, the suspect’s face was unclear,” said Mr. Sagar.

The police then checked the details of tenants in more than 200 houses near the spot where the body was recovered, and checked whether any of them had been missing for the past few days.

“The special staff team zeroed-in on one such house in Bhooton Wali Gali in Nangloi, around 1.5 km from the spot where the body was found. However, the suspect was not found in the house. A team was also went to Gumla district in Jharkhand but in vain,” said Mr. Sagar.

Accomplices absconding

The police finally got a break on May 17, when they got a tip-off that the suspect would be visiting his friend in Nangloi. “A trap was laid and the suspect was held,” said the officer.

Upon interrogation, Manjeet Karketa (30) confessed to his involvement in the murder. He also named two accomplices, Shalu and Gauri, who are absconding.

“The accused lured young and poor girls from Jharkhand with promise of employment in Delhi on a good salary. He is a middleman who provided girls from Jharkhand to various maid placement agencies,” said Mr. Sagar.

‘Would keep salary’

“After the girls got placed in a house, he would keep their salary. He would ask the employer to give him the money by convincing them that the girl would escape if they paid her the salary directly,” said Mr. Sagar.

The victim was identified as 16-year-old Soni Kumari, a resident of Ranchi district in Jharkhand.

After bringing Soni to Delhi and getting her placed in a home, Manjeet would take her salary. One year later, Soni finally mustered the courage to ask Manjeet for her salary so that she could go back to Jharkhand.

The accused allegedly tried to pacify the victim but she was relentless.

When Soni started to make a hue and cry over her salary, Manjeet and his two associates killed her.