The Hindu : Front Page : 70-year-old widow found murdered in Delhi

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Wednesday, May 07, 2008
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70-year-old widow found murdered in Delhi

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: A 70-year-old widow was found brutally murdered in her Amar Colony house in the Capital’s Lajpat Nagar area on Tuesday under highly mysterious circumstances. A newly-hired servant who has gone missing is the prime suspect.

The gruesome murder came to light when a domestic help alerted Nirmala Madan’s family that something was amiss as his repeated knocks on her door were not eliciting any response. When some of her relatives entered the ground floor house in the multi-storey building, they found the woman’s body lying in a pool of blood under a bundle of clothes.

Nirmala Madan had been staying alone since the death of her husband and two sons. Her grandsons live with their families on separate floors of the same building. Her daughter Sushma stays with her husband in Old Rajendra Nagar.

Nirmala Madan ran a property business from her house and owned a telephone booth. Neighbours described her as a soft-spoken, lively woman who had a wide network of friends and acquaintances and even brokered deals for people looking for houses on rent in the neighbourhood. “It was for this very reason that she required many servants and there was a constant movement of staff working under her. In the past two months alone she had changed as many as five servants,” said a police officer.

Prime suspect Badal, a Bangladeshi national, was hired a week ago to manage the telephone booth. According to the victim’s neighbours, Badal along with two men was seen near the house on Monday night and has been absconding since.

“One of the tenants saw Badal along with two men when he went upstairs to fix a leaking water tank,” said a neighbour.A half-filled servant verification form was found in the house.

The second and third floors of the building have been rented out mostly to young boys and girls. According to a neighbour, Nirmala Madan had an altercation with one of her women tenants on the fourth floor a few days ago following which the tenant vacated the room on Monday night.

“We were all present in the house when the body was found on Tuesday morning, but Badal was missing. When the body was discovered, the lights in the room were off and clothes were scattered across the room. I am not sure how much cash and valuables are missing,” said Sunny Madan, a grandson of the victim.

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