New Delhi:
Two elderly women, residing in two houses in the same colony in Delhi, were stabbed to death by robbers for a few hundred rupees, police said on Tuesday. Three people have been detained.
Shanti Devi, 65, and Reshma Rani, 67, who resided in two houses barely 500 metres apart in sector-3 of west Delhi's Rohini South, were found stabbed to death.
Shanti Devi was stabbed by the robbers around 1.30 am on Tuesday, and died of her injuries in Jaipur Golden Hospital in Rohini.
Reshma Rani was stabbed at her daughter's house shortly after the first incident, and died during treatment at Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Hospital.
In the first incident, the robbers entered Shanti Devi's four-storey building and held her hostage at knife point to rob the house. She lived on the ground floor with her husband Bishan Lal, 70, and her younger son Bhimsen, 28, while her four other sons lived on other floors.
"One of the robbers caught hold of my mother at knife point and the other was searching for valuables when I woke up on hearing the commotion. I caught one of them. In the meantime, the third robber entered the house and stabbed my mother and they managed to flee from the spot," Bhimsen told IANS.
A police officer said that the robbers could collect only a few hundred rupees and a purse from the house before escaping.
In the other incident, Reshma Rani, who was living at her daughter's three-storey house, was found stabbed at the ground floor.
Her daughter and other family members live on other floors.
"Reshma Rani alerted her daughter's in-laws by buzzing a bell fixed in her room. The family members came down after hearing the repeated alarm and found her stabbed," said the police officer.
According to police, the same gang of robbers is suspected to be involved in both attacks as a purse missing from the first house was found at Reshma Rani's house.
"A case regarding the incident has been registered and police have detained three persons in connection with the attacks," said the officer.