A 70-year-old woman, who lived alone, was allegedly stabbed to death with an ice pick while her head was smashed against the leg of a wooden cot at her residence in West Delhi’s Khyala on Wednesday evening.
A day since, the police are yet to track the suspects even as family claims that a cross dressed man carrying a ladies’ purse and walking suspiciously has been captured on the camera installed near her house.
Contrary to police’s statement ruling out robbery, the family said valuables including jewellery has been missing from the house.
Meanwhile, a senior investigator said, “Two-three days before the elderly woman was murdered, she had called a plumber at her house for repair work. We suspect that he could be behind her murder.”
laxmi Devi lived alone in her house since the death of her only son five years ago. Her five married daughters live in different parts of the Capital while her daughter-in-law stays with her parents. However, her brothers and their families live in the adjoining houses. It was Vinod, one of her nephews, who found her dead around 8 30 pm.
“The shopkeeper opposite her house was curious as they would greet each other once in the evening. On Wednesday, he told me that he had called ‘Buaji (something the whole neighbourhood addressed her as)’ several times but she had not been replying. I went to the house and pressed the calling bell which was unanswered. It came to my notice that the main door was bolted from outside. Now I was alarmed too,” said Vinod.
“The ground floor has three rooms. In one of those rooms I saw her lying on the floor next to a cot and there was some blood too. There were no clothes on the top half of her body so I had to call the women of the house to take a look. They told she was unconscious. A call was made to the police who took her to a hospital where she was declared brought dead,” Vinod said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Vijay Kumar said she had head injuries as well as eight stab wounds, suspected to have been caused by an ice pick.
“Blood was oozing from her nose and mouth. She had stab marks on her back, breast and face,” said a senior police officer. Vinod said that some valuables his aunt had kept in a cupboard on the first floor were missing and these included things she owned and things one of her sons-in-law had kept with her.
Her nephews Vinod and Shiv Bhagwan told the police that when they entered the room, it was badly ransacked. Police officials said that the entry was friendly and it appears to be the handiwork of someone known to her.
“My aunt though old was very alert. Even when one of us would go there, she would ask and only till she was assured with our replies, she would not open the gate. We had a few plumbers visiting her house few days ago, perhaps the only strangers I can think of,” said Vinod.
They also said that laxmi was not included in the Delhi Police’s database of senior citizens where beat staff is required to check on them on a day to day basis. laxmi used to work as a Class IV staff in an MCD school and was surviving on pension after her husband died a few years ago.