A 24-year-old woman and her cousin’s wife were murdered at their residence in north Delhi’s Wazirabad in the early hours of Monday. The prime suspect in the murder is the victim’s cousin and husband of the other victim who is absconding, the police said.
Sonia’s body with over 15 stab injuries was found in the washroom of her house in Gali number 6 and her sister-in-law, Premlata, was found with her throat slit. The screwdriver and knife used for committing the crime was found at the spot by the police.
Phone switched off
Sonia’s father Raj Kumar said he was calling on her number since morning but nobody responded. He called on Premlata’s number too, but it was not reachable. Mr. Kumar then tried the cellphone number of Premlata’s husband Mohit and found it to be switched off. Worried, he called the tenant living on the upper floor of the house to check why no one was answering the phone.
The tenant found the door latched from outside and as opened it, she saw blood and Premlata body on the floor. Scared, she ran to the owner of the restaurant adjacent to the house and informed him about what she saw. The man came to the house, saw the body, and immediately approached Mr Kumar’s friend Rohtash Singh who lives nearby.
“I saw Premlata’s body, went inside and saw Sonia in a pool of blood in the toilet. I immediately called the police,” he said.
‘Surgery on Sept. 17’
According to the family, only the two victims and Mohit were staying in the house as Mr. Kumar and his son Shailendra (20) had left for Kanpur to attend a family function on Saturday.
Mr. Kumar said his daughter Sonia had undergone a surgery on September 17 and he had called his sister’s son Mohit and his wife Premlata to take care of his daughter. “My son went to Kanpur and brought them here earlier last week to take care of the house and Sonia. On Monday, she had to go for the second round of dressing which is why I was trying to reach them to check on her,” said Mr. Kumar who reached Delhi late Monday evening.
An empty liquor bottle was found in the house which made the police suspect that Mohit, who wasn’t at home and his phone was also switched off, had consumed it. Mr. Rohtash said that Mohit visited a neighbour’s house on Sunday evening. “Which means everything was alright till that time,” he said.
According to the family, Mohit and Premlata got married in April this year.
DCP (North) Jatin Narwal said a case under Section 302 (punishment for murder) has been registered and the police are looking for Mohit. “The prime suspect is on the run. It appears that he has taken the wife’s phone with him. The phone has been put on technical surveillance,” he said.