He left after a fight with father: Killer’s mom Bahadur’s presence threw killers off earlier that night
ESTRANGED SON Family of main accused Rahul Anwar says he had not been living at home for the past 4 years
NEWDELHI: Anjum Begum, 55, said she woke up on Thursday to find the news of her son’s arrest flashing on TV news channels. She said she had last seen her estranged son Rahul Anwar three weeks ago, when he paid an “unusual” visit to their house in Rangpuri Pahadi, a slum located not more than a kilometre from the bungalow where Anwar allegedly murdered his 53-yearold employer Mala Lakhani and her domestic help Bahadur.
Standing outside her one-room house made of un-plastered bare bricks and covered in sheets of plastic, Anjum said, “He left the house around four years ago after regular fights with his father. His father objected to his addictions to liquor and gambling. He regularly stayed at his friends’ houses here and there and visited us only once in a while. He barely stayed in touch.”
Around 11 am, a neighbour came to our house and said Anwar had been arrested, Anjum said. Anwar’s family, hailing from Munger in Bihar, have been living in the area for the past 20 years.
“We switched on the TV and got the confirmation about his arrest,” said Mohammad Anwar, Anwar’s father, who too, was a tailor until an ankle injury in 2014 rendered him bed-ridden.
Anwar is second among four brothers and two sisters. His elder brother works as a tailor while the one younger to him works as a gym instructor, his mother said.
Anwar’s father recalled how Anwar had assaulted him about a year ago when he scolded Anwar for consuming liquor and being in the company of local gamblers. “I threw him out the house. He didn’t take care of his ageing parents and family. He also did not contribute to the family’s income. He had got the job through someone known to the madam. But I don’t know much about his work as he never visited home when I was there. Maybe he earned about ₹1,500-2,000. We even tried to get him married but he did not agree,” he added.
Anjum said she refuses to believe her son could be a murderer. Police said that Rahul also has a case of sexually assaulting a minor, but family members claimed that the sexual assault charges were “falsely” levelled against him by a neighbour. “In 2017, one of our neighbours had a fight with my daughter. My son had intervened and during the argument, a neighbour’s minor daughter was also there. She had then lodged a complaint about being manhandled and
POLICE SAID THE THREE HAD EARLIER GATHERED OUTSIDE THE HOUSE AT 9PM, BUT HAD CALLED OFF THE PLAN ON SEEING BAHADUR THERE
Rahul Anwar calls Rehmat and Wasim outside Mala's bungalow. They meet outside her house Mala’s help Bahadur hears her cries and rushes to the workshop. He is also stabbed They drive around for a while, before going to Rangpuri Pahadi to dispose of knives, change clothes
assaulted,” she said.
Less than 10 metres away from their house lives the family of Mohammad Rehmat, also accused in the twin murders. Rehmat’s mother, Mehroon Khatoon, a homemaker, and father Mohammad Salauddin, a tailor, said that hours before the alleged murders, their son had dinner at their house as usual.
“We had dinner together. After that we went on to sleep and he Anwar calls Mala to the ground floor on pretext of showing her something at her workshop, located within the compound They clean the crime scene and wash the bodies. The three then leave the bodies in the workshop They reach Vasant Kunj south police station and admit to the murders
left the house. We asked him where is he was going, but he did not reply and said he would be back soon. It was only on the TV on Thursday morning that we heard about him,” said Salauddin.
Rehmat’s family hails from Madhepur in Bihar. His father said that Rehmat dropped out of school in Class 7 and had started working as a house painter. “My son did odd jobs as a labourer and VASANT KUNJ ENCLAVE Mala goes to the workshop where Anwar stabs her while the other two hold her down They go inside the house, ransack Mala’s room and steal her jewellery. They flee with the stolen goods in Mala’s car A police team reaches the house and finds the bodies. The bodies are sent to Safdarjung hospital at times visited that woman’s (Lakhani) house because he knew tailoring and helped Anwar. I have three sons and a daughter. Rehmat is the eldest.”
The third accused, Wasim’s lives in a same area. Neighbours said Wasim, too, was a tailor and often helped Anwar stitch clothes for Lakhani. Police said Wasim works as a tailor for another Vasant Kunj resident. His house was locked on Thursday. NEWDELHI: The three men, Anwar, Wasim and Rehmat, who killed Mala Lakhani at her Vasant Kunj Enclave house on Wednesday night, had failed in their first attempt to kill her the same night because of her domestic help Bahadur, who had been working with her for the last 18 years.
Police said the three had earlier grouped together around 9pm but were deterred by Bahadur’s presence around Lakhani.
The three men had been working in the workshop located in her bungalow complex throughout the day.
Police said the alleged killers had then re-grouped around 10.30pm for the murder.
During their interrogation, the police found they had been planning the murder since last Sunday. Deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Devender Arya said that Anwar told police that they had bought four knives, usually used by butchers, from a weekly market on Sunday.
“On Thursday around 2.45am when the three men surrendered, Anwar and Rehmat had knife injuries on their hands. The duty officer alerted the station house officer of police station and he alerted me,” the DCP said adding that police recovered the knives.
“We also collected their fingerprints from the stolen valuables. Their call details were also checked to establish the sequence of incidents. We also checked the CCTV footages from Lakhani’s house. The cameras installed on the gate have captured them entering the house and leaving in her car,” Arya said.
Police said Anwar had partial access to Lakhani’s bungalow. “He had keys of the workshop and the main gate, but he did not have keys for the main house. Only Bahadur had those,” police said.
Early on Thursday morning, Lakhani’s neighbours had gathered around her house.
Nusrut Ahmed, who was returning home around 11pm from her husband’s office nearby, said that she was scared to imagine that at the time she was returning home, her neighbour was being killed.
“It’s scary to imagine. My sister who lives in the same building was up till 3am and she was the one to spot police movement in Lakhani’s house,” the woman said.
Not more than 50 meters from Lakhani’s house is a farmhouse owned by an international-level former cricketer. The caretaker of farmhouse said he had often spotted Anwar in the locality.
“We recognised each other but barely ever had a conversation. He had been here for past 3-4 years,” said Munchun Yadav who said he has been employed at the farmhouse since April.
Locals said another bungalow next to hers is owned by a current Indian cricketer but this could not be independently verified by Hindustan Times.