Elderly teacher strangled to death
4 Oct 2012 5:07 AM IST
A day after the world celebrated international elderly day, a 62-year-old school teacher was found strangled to death inside her residence in Timarpur area of north Delhi on Tuesday. Her legs were bound together and mouth was taped shut, but the house was not ransacked.
The deceased has been identified as Madhu Mehra, who hailed from Punjab and used to teach Science at Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya in Nehru Vihar. She had been living alone in the second-floor one-bedroom house in B-Block of Timarpur Teacher Colony for the last several years. ‘The incident came to light when one of Madhu’s caretakers, Rajinder Kumar, went to the house around 2.15 pm and found the main gate unlocked. When he went inside, he saw Madhu lying on the floor of the bedroom and immediately raised an alarm,’ a senior police official said.
Hearing the commotion, neighbours gathered outside the house and made a call to the police control room. The staff immediately rushed to the spot, but Madhu had already died.
Initial probe has concluded that the senior citizen was strangled to death with a pillow. ‘There were no other visible injury marks on her body. It was taken to Sabzi Mandi mortuary for post-mortem, after a crime and forensic team examined the house,’ the official added.
Entry into the house was found to be friendly, but it was not ransacked, which suggests that someone known to Madhu may have been involved. Police have also ruled out robbery as a motive behind the incident, as most of her jewellery and cash were found intact. After questioning of neighbours, it was found that the 59-year-old caretaker, Rajinder, who found Madhu’s body, was going through financial crisis and had taken a huge loan from Madhu, which he could not return.
A case of murder has been lodged at Timarpur police station, and investigators hope to ascertain the time-frame during which Madhu was killed with the help of post-mortem report.
Madhu was described by her neighbours as a social loner. Many residents of B-Block said she hardly mingled with the people ever, since a series of deaths in her family.
According to one of her colleagues at Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, Madhu’s husband died around 30 years ago, in an accident, within a couple of years of their marriage. Her only son also died in an accident when he was around 15 years old. She then started living with her parents, but they also died within a few years. It has also come to light that Madhu was a registered senior citizen with local police station. Beat constables used to visit her house, but, it seems Madhu rarely met them.
She was scheduled to retire in 2010, but had taken a two-year extension, which was about to end on 3 November. Police are questioning her sister’s family in the national capital to unearth any property dispute and personal enmity issues.
The deceased has been identified as Madhu Mehra, who hailed from Punjab and used to teach Science at Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya in Nehru Vihar. She had been living alone in the second-floor one-bedroom house in B-Block of Timarpur Teacher Colony for the last several years. ‘The incident came to light when one of Madhu’s caretakers, Rajinder Kumar, went to the house around 2.15 pm and found the main gate unlocked. When he went inside, he saw Madhu lying on the floor of the bedroom and immediately raised an alarm,’ a senior police official said.
Hearing the commotion, neighbours gathered outside the house and made a call to the police control room. The staff immediately rushed to the spot, but Madhu had already died.
Initial probe has concluded that the senior citizen was strangled to death with a pillow. ‘There were no other visible injury marks on her body. It was taken to Sabzi Mandi mortuary for post-mortem, after a crime and forensic team examined the house,’ the official added.
Entry into the house was found to be friendly, but it was not ransacked, which suggests that someone known to Madhu may have been involved. Police have also ruled out robbery as a motive behind the incident, as most of her jewellery and cash were found intact. After questioning of neighbours, it was found that the 59-year-old caretaker, Rajinder, who found Madhu’s body, was going through financial crisis and had taken a huge loan from Madhu, which he could not return.
A case of murder has been lodged at Timarpur police station, and investigators hope to ascertain the time-frame during which Madhu was killed with the help of post-mortem report.
Madhu was described by her neighbours as a social loner. Many residents of B-Block said she hardly mingled with the people ever, since a series of deaths in her family.
According to one of her colleagues at Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, Madhu’s husband died around 30 years ago, in an accident, within a couple of years of their marriage. Her only son also died in an accident when he was around 15 years old. She then started living with her parents, but they also died within a few years. It has also come to light that Madhu was a registered senior citizen with local police station. Beat constables used to visit her house, but, it seems Madhu rarely met them.
She was scheduled to retire in 2010, but had taken a two-year extension, which was about to end on 3 November. Police are questioning her sister’s family in the national capital to unearth any property dispute and personal enmity issues.
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