75-yr-old assaulted, strangled to death by 3 men, including her husband’s caretaker

NEW DELHI: A 75-year-old woman was assaulted and strangled to death allegedly by three men, including her husband’s caretaker who was employed two days before the incident, during a robbery at her home in west Delhi’s Hari Nagar last week.

The police on Sunday said they arrested all three suspects and recovered the stolen items — a pair of earrings and ₹2,000 cash.

The elderly woman’s husband, who is a cancer patient and has been diagnosed with mental health illnesses, was in the flat when the murder and robbery took place.

However, due to the severity of his mental illness, the man is aware of neither the robbery nor his wife’s murder, said deputy commissioner of police (west) Urvija Goel.

The incident came to light when on the afternoon of June 1, the couple’s neighbour went to check on them and found the woman unconscious and the caretaker, identified as Monu, missing. Upon being informed, the police took the woman, Savitri Sharma, to a hospital, even as Monu returned to the house. The woman died during treatment and doctors informed the police about strangulation marks around her neck.

“Monu was questioned, but kept changing his statements, which made us suspect his involvement in the incident.

Investigations revealed that two other people were in the house when the incident took place,” said Goel. Monu later confessed that they killed her during the robbery, she said.

Monu’s interrogation led to the arrest of the other two suspects — Vishal and Naveen Kumar — who told the police that Monu began working at the couple’s house on May 30 to take care of the man, identified as Jaipal Sharma. He was hired through a placement agency.

“Apart from the stolen items, we have also recovered a motorcycle they used in the crime,” Goel added.

HER HUSBAND IS NOT AWARE OF THE ROBBERY OR HER DEATH DUE TO HIS MENTAL ILLNESS, SAID THE POLICE