A 32-year-old man stabbed a 40-year-old woman to death and then set himself and the woman’s daughter, his love interest, ablaze at their residence in Jaitpur, southeast Delhi, on Monday and later succumbed.
The police said the gory incident took place on Monday morning when the accused, identified as Raj Kumar, who is married and has two kids, arrived at the Hari Nagar II residence of Soni, 21, with whom he was allegedly having a relationship for the last 18 months.
The police sources said Raj Kumar used to meet Soni frequently at her residence, which annoyed her mother Baby, 40, who had rebuked Raj Kumar for stalking his daughter in the past despite being married and was against their relationship.
“On Monday morning, when Raj Kumar arrived at the house, he was confronted by Baby who told him that Soni was not at home. This resulted in an argument between the two which suddenly turned violent. Raj Kumar grabbed a sharp-edged weapon used for splicing coconuts lying nearby and repeatedly attacked Baby in the head. The victim suffered severe injuries and collapsed on the spot,” a senior police official said.
The enraged Raj Kumar then barged into the house and searched for Soni. “Seeing her in a bedroom, he locked the door and procured a can of kerosene. Raj Kumar then got into Soni’s room and poured kerosene over himself and Soni and lit a match stick. The two were engulfed in flames. In the meantime, neighbours heard the commotion at the residence and informed the police,” the official said.
A PCR van arrived at the spot and the three were rushed to AIIMS Trauma Centre where doctors declared them brought dead. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem. “We have registered a case of murder at the Jaitpur police station,” the official said.
Soni had recently appeared in Class 12 board exams and her father was not present at the house when the incident happened.