Anger over alleged misbehaviour led to temple killing in east Delhi, say police

New Delhi, Dec 15 (PTI) Fuelled by anger over the alleged misbehaviour with his mother, a 33-year-old man stabbed a woman to death inside a temple in east Delhi's Mansarovar Park after he allegedly went there intending to kill the victim’s husband, police said on Monday.

The incident took place around noon on Sunday at a temple located in the DDA flats complex when the woman, identified as Kusum Sharma, was offering prayers, they said.

She sustained multiple stab injuries to her head and upper body and was rushed to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, where doctors declared her brought dead.

Police said the accused, identified as Anchal Saxena, a postgraduate who works at a private firm and resides in the vicinity, was arrested the same day, and the weapon of offence was recovered.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused was allegedly aggrieved by the conduct of the temple priest, who is the victim's husband.

"The priest used to misbehave with the accused's family members, who frequently visited the temple. Recently, he also misbehaved with the accused's mother, which fuelled his anger," a senior police officer said.

The officer added that Saxena had initially planned to kill the temple priest. However, when he reached the temple on the day of the incident, the priest was not present, and only his wife was there.

"In a fit of rage, he stabbed the priest's wife," the officer said.

Confirming the arrest, DCP (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam said multiple teams were formed to probe the case, and further investigation was underway. "Prima facie, it appears to be a case of old enmity," he said.

A case of murder has been registered at the Mansarovar Park police station. Family members, neighbours and local residents are being questioned to reconstruct the sequence of events, police added. PTI SSJ SSJ AMJ AMJ