New Delhi: An octogenarian was reportedly murdered by unidentified miscreants during a robbery at her house in northeast Delhi’s Dayalpur area on Sunday, police said on Monday. “The hands, mouth and feet of the 88-year-old victim were found tied with clothes by the robbers and her house was ransacked,” a police official informed. Meanwhile, the deceased has been identified as Shanti Devi, who lived alone in her house.
Police said that the incident came to light when one of the victim’s neighbours noticed at around 8:30 am on Sunday that the door of the house was opened and there were shoe marks on the floor near the gate. The neighbour immediately alerted the victim’s son Neeraj by calling him, who further asked him to go inside and see his mother.
When her neighbour went inside, the deceased Shanti Devi was lying on the bed with her hands, feet and mouth tied. There were no injury marks on his body. The wardrobe was lying open, the stuff was scattered and Jewelry was missing from her body.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) of Northeast district Sanjay Kumar Sain said that our police team received a PCR call at around 9.00 am. Immediately a police team rushed to the spot and took her to a nearby hospital, where the victim was declared brought dead.
The body was shifted to GTB hospital for a post-mortem on Sunday and later on, Monday handed over to her family. “The entire house was inspected by the crime and FSL team for collection of pieces of evidence including foot and fingerprints. We have registered a case of murder and robbery under section 392/302 IPC at Dayalpur police station. We are investigating the case with the help of CCTV and CDR. Several police teams are working to crack the case,” the DCP said.
The senior cop further confirmed that the preliminary investigations suggest that the woman was strangulated to death by unidentified robbers during a robbery at her house.
“Deceased Shanti Devi could not walk properly so her son hired a domestic help to take care of her. We are suspecting the role of domestic help in the crime and raiding her hideouts to nab her. The miscreants might have entered the house from its backside,” said a senior police official.
Shanti Devi’s husband OP Sharma died in 2018. He retired from the Customs Department. She has three sons.
According to the victim’s relative, “Everyone living around her house knew that she lived alone in the house. The neighbours also took good care of her. In such a situation, apprehension is being expressed that the perpetrators of the incident have conducted recce for several days and then carried out the incident.”