Woman, 71, Robbed, Her Throat Slit In Gujarat At Dawn: Police

A 71-year-old woman was stabbed to death and robbed allegedly by a man who ran errands for her in Gujarat's Vadodara city on Sunday, police said. 

The police have arrested a 20-year-old man in connection with the incident that occurred in a housing society in the Tarsali Road area around 4 am, deputy commissioner of police Leena Patil said.

The police were alerted around 5 am, she said.

Police teams arrested Vishal Saroj, a resident of the area, and he is the only person involved in the crime, the official said.

According to the police, the victim, Sukhjitkaur, and her husband, Harwinder Singh (73), lived alone in their apartment, and the accused ran errands for them.

Mr Patil said Saroj allegedly cut off the power supply to the house in the wee hours, forcing the victim to step out after the air conditioner stopped working.

As soon as the woman came out, the accused attacked her in the dark and slit her throat, and decamped with her jewellery, she said.

When the victim's husband came out, he found her lying in a pool of blood and alerted the neighbours, the official said.

The injured woman was rushed to a private hospital, where she died due to excessive bleeding.

Mr Patil said the accused, who lived in the same neighbourhood, had been missing since May 14, and his family had lodged a complaint.

Saroj had taken his father's ATM and other bank cards, she said.

"Saroj ran errands for the elderly couple and visited the house. After committing the crime, he went to a petrol pump and called his friend to escape with him," the official said.

On examining CCTV footage, the crime branch sleuths found Saroj's movements at the petrol pump suspicious and caught him.

The accused has confessed that he committed the crime as he needed money, Mr Patil said, adding that the stolen valuables have been recovered.

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