Woman held for murder of retired govt official, says she was ‘exploited’

NEW DELHI: With the arrest of a 25-year-old woman, police said on Saturday to have solved the brutal murder of a retired government officer in east Delhi’s Mayur Vihar, saying the accused stabbed the victim out of “anger” over “exploitation and blackmail” by him and his associates.

The accused, who was seen in a CCTV footage taking a television from the victim’s flat, was detained by the police from Palam and arrested after she “admitted” to have murdered 64-year-old Vijaykumar PB, who retired from Central Government Health Services (CGHS) in 2011, said DCP (East) Rishi Pal.

During the interrogation the woman said Vijaykumar and his two associates, who were about the same age as the victim, sexually exploited her and blackmailed her into continuing physical relationship with them, said sources privy to the investigation.

The accused visited Vijaykumar at his Samachar Apartment flat on July 20 and stabbed him multiple times with a kitchen knife in “anger and frustration” over her continued exploitation.

It was her first visit to the apartment complex, where the victim had moved in March from Lodhi Colony. The woman has claimed that two companions of Vijaykumar also exploited her, the sources said.

She claimed that she was blackmailed by the victim, who had threatened to defame her with a video clip he had shot with her, they said.

The accused, a graduate who lived at a guest house in Mukherji Nagar and was preparing for competitive exams, had come in contact with Vijaykumar in October 2014.

Vikaykumar was introduced to the accused as “Pradip” by a woman who told her that he could help her in getting a job.

In two years, the victim allegedly met the accused seven times at various places, including at Lodhi Colony, they said.

“The victim had called the accused at his flat at Samachar Apartment on July 20. She was seen in a CCTV footage coming to the apartment at 10am, and two hours later she was seen going out carrying an LED television she had picked up from the victim’s flat,” the DCP said.

The officer, however, said the claims of the accused that she was sexually exploited and blackmailed were under investigation.