Elderly woman found dead in Gurugram, husband slits wrist

GURUGRAM: A 74-year-old woman was found dead with her throat slit in her DLF 2 flat on Saturday morning. Her husband (77) slashed his wrist but survived as police rushed to the house and took him to hospital.
Police said prima facie it seemed Harnek Singh Dhillon had killed his wife Gurmel Kaur and then attempted suicide, and the two appeared to have struck a pact. Dhillon is being treated at a private hospital. A knife and a suicide note-cum-will were found inside their J-block flat on the second floor of a three-storey building. Dhillon, who was from Punjab, was a retired private sector employee, while Kaur was a homemaker. Their son and daughter are settled in Australia and Canada, respectively.

While police suspect a financial crisis in the Dhillon household, neighbours and other sources have told police about a bitter row the couple had with a flour mill owner, Jaskaran (51), who had allegedly taken Rs 40 lakh from Dhillon years ago but hadn't repaid it.

Jaskaran has been missing since October 14 and his family suspected Dhillon's role in his sudden disappearance. A team of cops from Sector 29 police station had visited the J-block society and Dhillon's flat last Tuesday in search of Jaskaran but did not find anything suspicious.

Around 8am on Saturday, Dhillon's nephew Rupender Singh, who lives in Jalandhar, called Gurugram police and said his uncle had called him, saying they had "committed suicide". Following the call, cops from DLF 2 police station went to the flat, where they found Kaur lying on a blood-soaked bed and her husband sitting on a chair with his wrist slit. He was rushed to Max hospital, where doctors said he was critical.

Police are scrutinising a note-cum-will Dhillon and Kaur had written, stating the couple "committed suicide willingly". In the will carrying two signatures, they also declared legal heirs of their properties. Police said they would match the signatures on the note with Dhillon and Kaur's signatures to establish the veracity of the note. "Prima facie, there was no sign of attempts to tamper with or remove evidence. So, we are currently ruling out the involvement of a third person," said inspector Vishnu Dyal, SHO, DLF 2 police station.

The couple was reportedly facing a financial crisis, he added. "It's too early to say anything. It seems they mutually decided to end their lives though the injuries on the neck of the woman look like stab wounds. We are investigating the matter. We hope the man will gain consciousness and will be able to throw some light on the chain of events," Karan Goyal, ACP (DLF), said.

Kaur's body has been kept in the mortuary and the police are waiting for Dillion's nephew to arrive and take the body. The police are investigating if the 'suicide pact' had any link with the disappearance of Jaskaran.

Police sources said Dhillon had lent Rs 40 lakh to Jaskaran, a resident of Chakkarpur, several years ago. Jaskaran used to run a flour mill back then. Later, he started a general store and then went missing last Sunday.

Following a missing person's case at Sector 29 police station on October 16, cops had gone to DLF 2, where Jaskaran was last seen on October 14. His scooter was found near Dhillon's house. Dhillon was called to the police station thrice for questioning but he denied any knowledge of Jaskaran's whereabouts, sources said.