A 62-year-old woman was found brutally stabbed to death at her house in West Delhi’s Punjabi Bagh on Monday morning.
The attacker also held Sulochana Bansal’s five-year-old grandson Daksh hostage before decamping with cash and jewellery worth lakhs.
The suspect in the case, who the police said was known to the family, had been detained by the evening. Even though the police did not disclose his identity, they said the motive behind the murder was robbery.
A senior police officer said Ms. Bansal was stabbed at least 27 times and a meat cleaver was also used by the attacker. Ms. Bansal lived with her family – including husband, son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren – in Shivaji Park Block C. Her husband runs a business of synthetic engine oil.
“Both her husband and son had left for work on Monday morning, while her daughter-in-law Pooja had gone to a hospital where her granddaughter Shejal was undergoing treatment,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Pushpendra Kumar.
When Pooja returned home around 11-30 a.m., she found the main door of the house bolted from inside. When no one answered the doorbell, she went to the rear end of the house and found the door open.
“Once inside, she found Ms. Bansal lying in a pool of blood and Daksh locked in a room on the first floor of the house,” said Mr. Kumar.
Pooja raised an alarm, after which neighbours gathered at the house and one of them made a call to the police control room. Ms. Bansal was taken to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital where she was declared dead on arrival.
CCTV camera damaged
The police added that the wires of six CCTV cameras installed in the house were found disconnected. The victim’s family told the police that the kit of the CCTV cameras, including the data storage device, was missing.
The house was found ransacked, but the police said it could have been done to mislead the investigators. “It was apparent from the beginning that the fatal attack was the handiwork of someone who had a friendly entry into the house,” said Mr. Kumar.
A case of murder has been filed with Punjabi Bagh police station.
Police detain one person known to
the family
House ransacked, but it could have been done to mislead, say cops
