New Delhi: In a brutal murder and probable sexual assault case, a A 25-year-old woman and her two children were found dead at their house in west Delhi’s New Raghubir Nagar on Monday.
The house was ransacked, but the woman’s husband told the police nothing valuable was missing.
It is suspected that the woman was sexually assaulted before being killed. Sources said the woman’s body was found in a semi-nude condition. Her five-year-old daughter claimed to have seen the killer, said the police.
The deceased have been identified as Shabnam, her seven-year-old son Ibrahim and six-year-old daughter Khushnasib.
The incident came to light when Shabnam’s husband Zafar returned home from a business trip to Jaipur at 6:30 am on Monday.
Zafar works in the textile industry and makes frequent trips out of the city. “Shabnam was found lying on the bed with her throat slit, while the bodies of Ibrahim and Khushnasib were on the floor,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Pushpender Kumar.
The bodies were taken to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital after a crime and forensic team inspected the house.
“Their necks bore injury marks, apparently inflicted by some sharp weapons, and the woman’s limbs were also tied,” said Kumar.
Shabnam and Zafar lived with their five children — three daughters and two sons — on the second floor of a building in New Raghubir Nagar F-Block. Shabnam’s five-year-old daughter Anam claimed to have seen two men attack the family in the early hours of Monday. Apart from Anam, the couple’s four-year-old daughter Arshi and 11-month-old son Ayaan also survived the attack.
In his statement, Zafar told the police he had gone to Jaipur on Saturday. When he returned, the main door of the house was found bolted from outside. He went inside and found the bodies.
“A television set in the house was turned on at very high volume. It may have been done to drown the woman’s voice. We have not zeroed in on the motives behind the crime,” said Kumar.
A case of murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code has been filed on the basis of Zafar’s statement with the Khayala police station.
No charge of sexual assault has been included in the case, as the police are waiting for the post-mortem report.
