Delhi: Teenage domestic help chopped into pieces for demanding salary
A 15-year-old teenager left her home in Jharkhand and reached Delhi three years ago with dreams of a high-paying job. Instead, she was forced to work as a domestic help even as her 'placement-agency' kept pocketing her salary. When she started demanding her dues, they freaked out. After planning for a week, they slit her throat, chopped her into 12 pieces, then dumped her.
Soni Kumari wanted to support her family by earning
Soni Kumari of Malgo village of Ranchi was lured to Delhi by Manjeet Karketa and his associate Rakesh, who promised her a lucrative job. But she had to work at various houses across Delhi as a help. Her last employer, a businessman in East of Kailash, was paying her Rs. 6,500. But Karketa would pocket the money saying he was her brother.
Kumari demanding her dues was the trigger for her murder
Investigators said Kumari had started demanding her dues after her first year in Delhi, and had turned up the heat in recent weeks. "Karketa owed her over Rs. 2L. They feared being reported to the police. So the(y) planned to kill Kumari," an official said. For this, Karketa roped in Rakesh; Gauri, who too had been lured to Delhi; and Shalu from Jharkhand's Gulma.
Kumari thought she was going home, but was brutally murdered
On May 3, Karketa took Kumari away from her employer, saying they're sending her home. But they took her to his flat in Nangloi instead. "The killers first hit her on her head. They then severed her neck before dismembering her limbs and torso," investigators said. Karketa and Shalu then packed her body-parts in bags and walked 1.5kms to dump them in a drain.
Police assessed more than 100 CCTV cameras, searched 2,500 homes
The body parts were discovered the next day by a passerby. Cops then checked footage from over 100 CCTV cameras in the area and traced two suspects, but their faces were unclear. They then launched a door-to-door search at 2,500 homes, before locating one whose two occupants had been missing since the murder. Neighbors confirmed they had seen Karketa and Shalu there on May 3.
One accused arrested, hunt on for others
Police collected Karketa's personal details from his landlord and traced him to Gulma. He has now been arrested. He confessed they had been planning the crime for a week and had bought a cleaver from a market in Nangloi. Rakesh, who is absconding, wasn't at the site when Kumari was murdered. A search is on for the two women, officials said.
