Hospital Housekeeper Arrested For Killing 88-Year-Old Woman In Delhi

The Delhi Police has arrested a 24-year-old housekeeping staff member of a private hospital who along with his father and cousin allegedly killed an elderly woman and robbed her house a week ago, officials said on Tuesday.

The arrested accused has been identified as Badal, a resident of Karawal Nagar, they said.

On January 29, a neighbour of the 88-year-old woman, identified as Shanti Devi, found the door of the house open in Karawal Nagar. When Shanti Devi did not respond to her calls, the police were informed around 9 pm on Sunday, a senior officer said.

When the police reached the spot, they found Shanti Devi tied and lying dead in her bed. However, there were no visible injury marks on her body. The house was ransacked and the lock of almirah was broken which raised suspicion of robbery.

The woman used to live alone after the death of her husband in 2018. Her three sons live separately with their families and used to visit her occasionally, police said.

Investigation found that a religious function was organised in a nearby lane on that night and several people were moving in the area. The residents of the area were verified and it surfaced that a house was locked for the last three or four days. Their residents were not seen by neighbours, the officer said.

The analysis of call details record of their mobile phones confirmed their presence near the house of the victim on that night. They were identified as Kamal, his son Badal and Ashok, son of Kamal's sister, resident of Village Jharoli in Aligarh, UP, the officer said.

It was also found that Badal used to work at a private hospital in Ghaziabad as a housekeeper. On verifying from the hospital, it surfaced that Badal was absent from his duty on the day of the incident, police said.

On Tuesday morning, police saw a person tried to enter the house in Karawal Nagar secretly. He tried to flee the spot after sensing police presence, but was arrested, Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast) Sanjay Kumar Sain said.

Badal disclosed that he, along with his father Kamal and cousin Ashok, committed the robbery-cum-murder, police said.

His father is a daily wage labourer. A few months back, his father and Ashok had repaired the house of the woman. At that time, they had noticed that she was financially sound and was living alone. Kamal and Ashok informed him, following which they made a plan to rob her, the DCP said.

They tried to enter the house during night hours twice between January 17 and 22 but couldn't execute the plan due to some obstacles and movement of police vehicles, police said.

On January 29, they noticed a religious function being held in the nearby lane. Finding it as an opportunity, they decide to execute the plan and entered the house by breaking its rear door. They tied the woman with the help of clothes and smothered her with a pillow. After committing the robbery, they left the house by covering their faces with monkey caps to conceal their identities, police said.

He also disclosed that his cousin Ashok was involved in criminal activities in Uttar Pradesh. The claim is yet to verified. Efforts are being made to nab the remaining accused, police said.

Ten silver coins, two silver pendants, one golden pendant, one pair golden ear studs, two golden bengals and Rs 7,500 were recovered from his possession, they added.

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