One of the first woman journalists, Rekha Duggal, burnt to death by servant in Delhi

[email protected] (News Network)
July 9, 2014

Rekha DuggalNew Delhi, Jul 9: One of the first woman journalists, Rekha Duggal, was allegedly murdered by her domestic help at her Greater Kailash-II residence here on Monday night. She was 81.

According to the police, Duggal was allegedly strangulated by the help, Neeraj, who later set her body on fire to prevent it from being identified.

The 81-year-old widow of a former journalist with a reputed news agency was found burnt to death inside her flat here in Delhi, police said on Tuesday. The victim's servant has been arrested for the suspected murder.

Rekha Duggal's body was recovered around 9.30 p.m. on Monday from the second-floor flat of her four-storey building in south Delhi's posh Greater Kailash area.

Duggal's younger sister and son-in-law along with the accused servant Neeraj, in his 20s, found her body.

The woman's son-in-law, Manmohan, also a former journalist, said, "My wife got a call from a neighbour, Saroj Prakash, around 9 p.m. on Monday that her mother (Duggal) was missing."

"We reached the house and found her body from the second floor. When we entered the floor, it was full of smoke and my mother-in-law's body was burning in the bedroom."

"We made a call to the fire service, and firefighters took out the body. In the meantime, police also reached there," Manmohan said.

"Duggal's post-mortem examination report revealed that she was strangulated with a dupatta, beaten up and later set on fire," said a police official.

The officer said the servant, Neeraj, who was employed seven months ago at Duggal's home, has been arrested but police were yet to find out his motive.

An investigating officer said the victim, as per initial information, would go for a walk around 6 p.m. and come back around 7 p.m.

A reason for the servant's arrest was that the woman was staying alone in the flat along with him, the police official said.

Rekha Duggal, whose husband K.K. Duggal - a journalist with the UNI news agency - died in 2005, was staying on the first floor of her house, which she had gifted to her elder sister residing in the US.

The second floor was gifted to her younger sister while the third and the fourth floors were given on rent to other people.

Duggal hailed from pre-independence Pakistan's Gujranwala area. She later shifted to Karnal in Haryana.

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News Network
May 1,2020

Lucknow, May 1: Six members of a family were allegedly hacked to death by another family member over a property dispute in Gudauli village in the Banthra area on the outskirts of the city on Thursday, police said.

The accused, Ajay Singh (26), went to the local police station after committing the crime and surrendered, they added.

Singh allegedly had a heated argument with the family members over a property and attacked them with a sharp-edged weapon, the police said.

The accused allegedly killed his mother, father, elder brother, his wife and two children -- a son and a daughter -- they added.

The victims were identified as Amar (60), Ramsakhi (55), Arun (40), Ramdulari (35), Saurabh (7) and Sarika (2).

When asked, Commissioner of Police Sujeet Pandey said six members of a family were killed and the accused surrendered before the police.

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Bareilly, Jan 9: In a bizarre development, a woman has been arrested for inflicting 101 cuts on her sister-in-law in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district, the police said on Thursday.

The woman was practicing exorcism to cure her father who had been ailing for some time.

The woman, Moni, was helped by her husband Mooli and brother Raju in the act, which happened on Tuesday.

The sister-in-law Renu who suffered the cuts, was given 300 stitches on her face and other parts of the body by the doctors.

Renu has been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where her condition is said to be serious.

Moni, 30, has been sent to jail while Mooli and Raju are absconding.

Baradari police station officer inspector Naresh Tyagi said that a complaint had been filed by Renu's brother under section 307 (attempt to murder) of IPC.

"We will record Renu's statements in a day or two once she is stable and in a condition to talk to us. We have sent Moni to jail," the inspector said.

Renu, a resident of Ganghora village in Bareilly, was married to Sanjeev around eight years ago.

Her father-in-law, Jagdish, fell ill a few months ago.

"Accused Moni, who practices exorcism, decided to cure her father by initiating the act. Going by superstitious beliefs, they inflicted as many as 101 cuts on Renu's face and body. It cannot be ruled out that they wanted to sacrifice her to complete the act," police inspector said.

On Tuesday night, the accused had locked Renu's husband and mother-in-law in another room when they tried to stop them from making her a scapegoat.

When the accused trio started inflicting cuts on Renu, she struggled to get out of their clutches and somehow managed to escape from the house.

She had run a short distance when she collapsed and became unconscious. A police constable on patrol reportedly spotted her and she was taken to a district hospital. Once regaining her consciousness, she narrated her ordeal to the police who then informed her parents.

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News Network
June 5,2020

Jun 5: The fear of contracting COVID-19 infection allegedly forced a 65-year-old man to commit suicide in Maharashtra's Beed district, police said on Friday.

The incident occurred at Mangewadi in Patoda on Thursday, when a passerby found the body of Asaram Pote hanging from a tree in his farm, an official said.

The police were immediately alerted and Pote's body was brought down in the presence of his relatives and locals, he said.

A suicide note was found on the deceased's person, in which he said that he had taken the extreme step as he was scared of contracting COVID-19 infection and no one should be held responsible for his death, the official said.

A case of accidental death was registered in this regard and further probe was underway, he added.

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