Bartwal killed 22 hrs before maid found her

Sarojini Bartwal, 78, was killed between 12 and 3 pm on Monday, the post mortem examination report has revealed.

Sarojini Bartwal, 78, was killed between 12 and 3 pm on Monday, the post mortem examination report has revealed.

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This is around 22 hours before her maid discovered the body.

A team of the crime branch of Delhi Police has been roped in to investigate the case and bring the perpetrators to book as soon as possible.

Sarojini, mother of Hemendra Bartwal, a senior journalist who now works with a foreign mission, was found murdered at her Mayur Vihar flat on Tuesday at around 11 am.

A post mortem examination on Sarojini’s body was conducted at Lal Bahadur Shastri hospital on Wednesday morning, and her body was later cremated at the Nigambodh Ghat.

“The report states that Sarojini was murdered at least 45 hours before the doctors conducted the post mortem examination. It means she was probably killed between 12 noon and 3 pm on Monday. The report has also confirmed that she was smothered to death with bare hands. No other injury marks have been found on her body,” said a senior police officer.

He added that the post mortem report helped them narrow down their search.

Meanwhile, the probe so far has made investigators believe that there are only one or two criminals involved. Police have ruled out the involvement of Manju and Saroj, the two house maids.

“Whoever killed the elderly woman was known to her and made a friendly entry into the house. Being highly apprehensive of her security, the victim only allowed those who she knew personally, into the house. Robbery seems to be the certain motive behind the murder,” the senior officer added.

Prabhakar, DCP (east) said teams of the east district police were leaving no stone unturned to get a breakthrough in the case.

“We have questioned several people, including the maids, plumber, electrician, carpenter and even security guards, who had access to the victim’s house. All aspects of the case are being explored and we are hopeful of cracking it soon,” Prabhakar said.