75-yr-old found dead in Ghaziabad, family alleges murder

A 75-year-old woman was allegedly murdered inside her house in Patel Nagar on Friday morning

A 75-year-old woman was allegedly murdered inside her house in Patel Nagar on Friday morning, the police said.

The woman lived alone at her house. Her family claims she was fond of wearing gold and allege that she might have been killed for her jewellery.(HT Photo)

Her family has alleged that some unidentified persons made off with her gold jewellery and Rs 15,000 in cash.

According to the police, Kamlesh Sharma lived alone in her house after the death of her husband eight years ago.

She had retired as superintendent from the Delhi Electric Supply Undertaking. They added that one of her five daughters stayed nearby.

“My mother-in-law was fond of gold and would wear jewellery often. She had bought a gold chain a week ago and had started wearing it. Usually, she would wake up around 5.30am and would clean her house. We think some persons came to the house and killed her and stole her gold from the house, not to mention the chain and earrings she was wearing,” Vijay Kumar, the victim’s son in law, said.

The incident came to light around 8am when Sharma’s domestic help arrived at the house for her daily chores. She later alerted family members.

“The domestic help has been with us for almost 20 years. Her children also stay AT my house. After she finished work at my house, I sent her to my mother-in-law’s house. When she arrived, she found my mother-in-law lying in the bathroom with the door half-open. Her body had no signs of injury, other than some blood on her ear, probably caused by someone pulling off her earrings,” he added.

The woman’s family members claimed that nearly 100 grams of gold was stolen from the house.

On the basis of a complaint forwarded by the woman’s family, the police have lodged an FIR under the Indian Penal Code Section 460 (an act of joint house trespass where death or grievous hurt is caused by one of them) at the Sihani Gate police station.

The police said that the woman was rushed to a private hospital by her family, where doctors said that she probably died of a heart stroke.

“We have sent the body for an autopsy to know the exact cause of death. It seems that someone known to her may have been involved in the incident. We are also scanning nearby CCTV footage and an investigation is underway,” Sanjay Kumar Pandey, SHO, Sihani Gate police station, said .