The accused had only planned to steal the cash. (Representational)
A 72-year-old woman was allegedly killed by a man who broke into her tent to commit theft, police said on Sunday.
The accused, Rajender Chauhan (40), has been arrested. He lived with his wife and a friend near the victim's place, they said.
The incident took place on Friday under the RTR flyover in the South Campus area of southwest Delhi, police said.
The woman, along with her family, lived in a tent under the flyover, they said.
The accused suspected that the woman was hiding cash and decided to rob her of it. When he entered the tent, the woman caught hold of him and started shouting. The man killed her and ran away with the cash, a senior police official said.
On reaching the spot, police found that the victim had grievous injuries on her neck and face. She was rushed to a nearby hospital but was declared brought dead, he said.
Police said several raids were conducted in Delhi and Noida to arrest Chauhan. After he was apprehended, he tried to mislead the police about the incident, the officer said.
"We interrogated him and he confessed to his crime. He told police that he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident. His wife and daughter were at a temple and he decided to rob the victim believing that she earns money from begging," he said.
The accused had only planned to steal the cash. When he broke into the woman's tent, he found her sleeping. However, she woke up after observing an unusual movement and raised an alarm. In panic, the man took out a knife and slit her neck, the officer said.
He also picked up a wooden block from outside the tent and hit her on the head, the officer added said.
The blood-stained knife, along with the blood-stained clothes and shoes of the accused, was recovered, police said.
Chauhan wanted to earn easy money after he had lost his job recently. He worked at a spa in Mahipalpur, they said.