New Delhi, Jun 18 (PTI) A dermatologist allegedly killed his 45-year-old domestic help at his residence in southeast Delhi’s upscale Mount Kailash area on Thursday morning by bludgeoning her with a cricket bat and stabbing her multiple times, police said.
The doctor’s prolonged mental health issues and decade-long medication may have triggered the act, they said.
Dr Manish Gupta acted alone in the murder and his son had no role in the crime, the police said, scuttling claims of involvement of more than one person.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Hemant Tiwari said there was no evidence to support claims that the victim, a woman, was targeted over suspicions of black magic or “negative energy,” shifting the focus of the investigation to the doctor’s psychiatric history.
The brutal murder sent shockwaves through the neighbourhood, particularly as it came barely two months after the rape and murder of the 22-year-old daughter of an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer in the neighbouring Kailash Hills area, allegedly by a former domestic help.
On Thursday, when a police team arrived at the crime scene, it found Gupta standing near the blood-soaked body. He was immediately taken into custody.
During questioning, he allegedly confessed to killing the househelp, Meena, who had been working at his residence for nearly 15 years.
The police said that the exact sequence of events leading to the murder is still being pieced together, but said preliminary findings suggest the doctor attacked the woman alone.
They said that at around 11.36 am, a resident from the colony reported that a woman had been murdered on the terrace of a neighbouring building and was lying in a pool of blood.
“A police team rushed to the spot and found the victim dead. A man in his 50s was also present near the body when they arrived,” the DCP said.
The man was apprehended and a cricket bat and the knife allegedly used in the murder were seized from the spot.
Investigators said Gupta has been undergoing treatment for depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) for nearly 10 years and has been on anti-depressant medication.
His mental condition and treatment history are being examined to determine whether they played a role in the killing.
The police said there is no evidence so far to indicate that Meena was killed because of any superstition-related suspicion.
Gupta’s son, aged around 20, has no involvement in the incident and was “fully stable”, they said.
The accused’s wife, an Ayurvedic dermatologist, was not at home at the time of the incident, the police said.
Whether any argument took place before the murder is also a point of investigation, they said.
According to locals and domestic workers who work in the area, screams were heard from the terrace shortly before the incident came to light. Residents living in nearby towers reportedly noticed a commotion and alerted others after hearing cries for help.
Pooja Verma, a domestic worker who earlier worked with Meena at the doctor’s residence, said she was associated with the family for years and was a known person in the area.
“I used to work with her before. She had been working there for many years. We heard she was attacked badly. She was a quiet woman and mostly kept to herself,” Verma said.
Meena’s family members were devastated by her killing.
“I don’t exactly know what happened. She was fine when she left. Someone called me and said she is dead,” her son Robin said.
“She had been working there for the past 15 years. My friend called and told me that my mother had been killed. She had left home as usual in the morning. I still cannot believe it,” he said.
Robin alleged that family members were initially not allowed to see the body.
Meena’s brother, Shubho Dhargal, questioned the circumstances surrounding the murder and said they were kept in the dark initially.
“Every day she used to leave for work as usual. I was informed by relatives that my sister had been killed. When I reached there, police did not allow me to see her body. We only came to know later what had happened,” he said.
As news of the murder spread, scores of domestic workers, relatives, neighbours and residents gathered outside the doctor’s residence. Many women who knew Meena were seen crying and demanding strict punishment for Gupta. Several of them said she worked only to support her children and could not have deserved such brutality.
Tense scenes were witnessed outside the house as people raised slogans demanding justice. Some among the crowd demanded that the accused be handed over to them, forcing police personnel to step up security and deploy additional staff in the area.
At many points, demonstrators surrounded police officers and questioned the pace of the investigation. Police personnel spent considerable time pacifying the crowd and assuring them that a fair probe would be conducted.
Investigators are analysing CCTV footage from nearby buildings and recording statements of neighbours, family members, domestic workers and the person who made the PCR call.
The body was sent for post-mortem, which is expected to provide clarity on the nature of injuries.
This is the second time in two months the posh area has been struck by a brutal murder and jolted its residents.
In April, a 22-year-old IIT graduate and daughter of a senior IRS officer was allegedly raped and murdered by a former domestic help at her residence in Kailash Hills. PTI SSJ VN VN
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