Gokalpuri murders: Delhi woman killed elderly in-laws to continue affair
According to police, the in-laws of Moika, the prime accused, had decided to shift to Dwarka which would have meant that she would be unable to stay in contact with her boyfriend
A day after a 30-year-old woman was arrested for the murder of her in-laws in northeast Delhi’s Gokulpuri, police officers associated with the case on Tuesday said she committed the crime as she wanted to live with her boyfriend and wanted to eliminate all opposition to her affair.
According to police, on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, the victims, identified as Radhey Shyam Verma, 72, and his wife Veena Verma, 68, were sleeping at their residence in Gokalpuri’s Bhagirathi Vihar area. Their son Ravi Rattan, 38, daughter-in-law Monika, and five-year-old grandson (name withheld by police) were also present in the house when the murder occurred. According to officers, the elderly couple lived on the ground floor of the house, while Ravi, Monika and their son lived on the first floor.
While police arrested Monika on Monday after collecting technical evidence against her, the boyfriend, identified as 29-year-old Ashish (single name) and his unnamed associate are on the run.
Police said Monika and Ashish started plotting the Vermas’ murder in December 2022, after Radhey Shyam announced that he wanted to sell the Bhagirathi Vihar house and move the entire family to Dwarka. Moving to Dwarka, police said, would have meant that Monika and Ashish would not be able to meet as frequently as they did — the boyfriend was a resident of Ghaziabad.
Ravi and the rest of his family knew about his wife’s affair and the couple often quarrelled, police said.
Joy Tirkey, the deputy commissioner of police (northeast), said, “Monika came into contact with Ashish on Facebook in August 2020, and after their first meeting in February 2021, they began getting together at various hotels at regular intervals. Ravi found out about their affair when he read some messages on Monika’s WhatsApp, and took away her smartphone. However, she kept on meeting her boyfriend even after that.”
The DCP added, “Several times Ashish took Monika to his Ghaziabad house and introduced her to his mother and brother as her girlfriend. However, when Ashish’s mother found out that Monika was already married and had a child, she began objecting to the relationship.”
Detailing the series of events that led to the murder, Tirkey said, “The idea of murder first came to Monika’s mind sometime in December 2022. She shared the idea with Ashish, and he had agreed to get it done. Radhey Shyam took ₹5 lakh on February 12 from a buyer as advance for the rear portion of the Bhagirathi Vihar house, following which Monika and Ashish met at a hotel in Gokulpuri on February 20 and finalised the plan. Ashish arranged for a couple of new SIM cards and met Monika at her parental home to deliver one SIM card to her.”
The DCP said Monika called Ashish and his associate to the house at around 7pm on Sunday, when no-one was at home. “She led them to the terrace to hide and provided them with soft drinks and refreshments,” he said.
According to the police, sometime after 1.15am on Monday, Ashish called her and told her that he was coming downstairs and that she should not come out of the room. At about 2.12 am, he called her to inform that the job had been done.
During the murder investigation, police said, the entire neighbourhood informed the police about their suspicion of Monika. After sustained interrogation, she broke down and revealed that she had planned the murders with Ashish and his accomplice.
“The motorcycle that was used by the criminals has also been identified. Further investigation in the case is in progress,” Tirkey said.