76-year-old tied up, murdered at home
NEW DELHI: A 76-year-old woman was found tied up and murdered at her home in south Delhi’s Savitri Nagar on Tuesday morning. Police said she appeared to have been smothered using a bed sheet.
Since the woman’s house and almirahs were found ransacked, police said the crime scene gave the impression that robbery was the motive behind the murder. However, problems between the woman and one of her sons as well as ongoing property disputes in the family have forced the police to probe the family’s role in the murder simultaneously, said Ishwar Singh, DCP (south).
The murdered woman, Chandramukhi Gulia, lived alone on the first floor of a multi-storey building that was owned by her. Dependra Pathak, chief spokesperson of Delhi Police, said Chandramukhi owned substantial property in the city and even received rental money. Her husband died in 2011.
Two of her sons and a daughter are settled abroad while one other daughter lives in Sonepat. One other son, Kuldeep, lives with his family on the third floor of the same house. “Kuldeep and his mother were not on talking terms and he did not visit her despite sharing the same house. She had also filed a criminal case against him a few years ago. The brothers were also involved in a property dispute,” said Chinmoy Biswal, additional DCP (south).
But according to Gulia’s relatives, it was Kuldeep who first discovered his mother’s body.
The cops suspect the woman may have been killed at night as there was a charred pan on the stove. Also, the entry into the house does not seem to be forced, suggesting she may have been killed by someone known to her.