Elderly woman killed in east Delhi; daughter-in-law held

New Delhi: A 62-year-old handicapped woman was killed on Tuesday night after her daughter-in-law hit her head with a wooden plank and used mustard oil to set the deceased on fire in their Mandawali residence in east Delhi.

The deceased was identified as Swarna Kapoor who lived with her family in Shanti Marg area of Mandawali. A pool of blood mixed with mustard oil and sign of burning spot and burnt articles were found on the spot.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Omvir Singh stated that they formed a team of Inspector Videsh Singhal and Inspector D. P. Singh, SHO Mandawali who interrogated Kanchan Kapoor, the daughter-in-law. She disclosed her crime using wooden plank used by her mother-in-law for movement.

"There was a longstanding quarrel between the accused Kanchan and the deceased Swarna over the family issues in past. She thought of killing her earlier also," Omvir said.

Police said that on Tuesday night, the child of the accused was crying loudly on the second floor where the accused was living. Hearing the cry of the child, the deceased abused Kanchan as usual. Upon this, a quarrel started between the deceased and the daughter-in-law. During the heated argument between the two, the accused assaulted her mother-in-law with a wooden plank on her forehead. The deceased collapsed on the floor in front of the kitchen.

"To hide the incident and to divert the police investigation, the accused poured mustard oil kept in the kitchen of the deceased and set her fire to give a shape to the incident which could give the impression that some outsider/criminal committed the crime," police said.

After committing the incident, the accused closed the door and went to her residence on the second floor of the same building. After committed the crime, she changed her blood-stained clothes. On her instance, one ladies gown stained with blood and mustard oil, one wooden plank from which she hit the head of deceased and one empty plastic oil jar were taken into possession.

This was not the first incident in the Capital against the senior citizen. Recently, a 35-year-old man who killed his aunt for money was arrested from west Delhi area.

Police claimed that the deceased

was identified as Priskilla David who was killed in her residence in Moti Nagar on August 31. The accused killed her by stabbing more than 20 times with a pointed weapon (ice-picker). In another incident, a septuagenarian couple was found murdered at their residence in north-west Delhi's Ashok Vihar. The police have arrested their maid in this regard.