NEW DELHI
A 38-year-old woman and her 13-year-old son were murdered at their residence in Govindpuri in the early hours of Thursday, in a suspected incident of robbery, police officers aware of the matter said, pointing to missing cash and jewellery. They, however, said that lack of signs of forced entry and severe repeated stab wounds to the bodies could also indicate personal enmity.
Police said they were informed at 1.11am about the murder, after the woman’s husband found the bodies with multiple stab wounds upon returning at around 12.30am.
The victims were identified as Sharda Sahu, 38, and her son, a Class 7 student.
Deputy commissioner of police (south east) Hemant Tiwari said the complainant, Vishnu Sahu, who works as a fruit and vegetable vendor at a weekly market, returned home around 12.30am and found the front door latched from the outside. “When he entered the house, he allegedly discovered the bodies of his wife and son lying inside with multiple stab injuries,” the officer said.
Police said that as per a preliminary inquiry and inspection of the house, around ₹10 lakh and jewellery worth about ₹20 lakh were missing from the almirah, but ₹2 lakh was left behind. The crime team and forensic officials also examined the crime scene and collected evidence.
Based on the husband’s complaint, a case under sections 103 (murder) and 309(6) (theft after preparation for causing death, hurt or restraint) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered at Govindpuri police station.
The victims’ family said that the couple had been residing at the house for over 12 years, and that the couple married in 2009. As they could not conceive, they adopted the boy from the man’s brother and sister-in-lawin 2013.
Vishnu’s brother, Suresh Sahu, 40, who lives in Sangam Vihar, who visited the scene of the crime following the discovery of bodies, said, “Those who have done it have done it with the intention of robbery. They also took away the bangles my sister-in-law was wearing.”
The boy’s birth mother said the family spoke to the boy two hours before the incident.
An investigator familiar with the case, requesting not to be named, said that as per the autopsy, the woman suffered 11 stab wounds and the boy, at least seven. “The way the two have been killed leads us to suspect personal enmity, with robbery as an afterthought. The entry into the house seems friendly as well,” the officer said.
The investigator said that the family’s milk seller called the husband around 9.30pm, after the woman did not pick his call or open the door. “He (husband) told him that she may have gone out and then didn’t make an effort to reach her. He came back after finishing his work around 12.30am. Also, there’s no activity on his phone between 8pm and 9.30pm. However, his location was in Rangpuri Pahadi,” the officer said.
Police said that the husband also used to run a monthly micro-finance venture. “This is probably why there was cash in his house. People who were a part of the group are being questioned,” the officer said.
Investigators said the boy was into online gaming and often used to invite his friends to the house. “This is another angle that’s being looked into,” the officer said.
