Delhi Woman Strangled by Business Partner, Accused Suspected to Have Killed Self

The police officers informed that the accused (Sohan Lal) was the victim's business partner, with whom she was planning to open a play school. She was last seen with Lal on February 23. It is suspected that Sohan first murdered the woman and later committed suicide by jumping on the railway tracks.

New Delhi: A 32-year-old Delhi woman missing since February 23 was allegedly strangled by her business partner, who is also suspected to have committed suicide in Haryana's Sonipat, the city police said on Wednesday.

The woman's body was found on Wednesday at a Narela playschool that she was planning to open with her business partner Sohan Lal, they said. According to a complaint lodged by Swatantra Nagar resident Vijay Kumar at Narela police station on February 24, his daughter left home on February 23 on a two-wheeler and did not return.

The woman was divorced and lived with her father. Kumar informed that she was last seen with her business partner Sohan Lal, with whom she was planning to start the Tiny Dream Berry Playschool in Narela. The playschool is not operational yet and consists of a basement and a room on the ground floor acting as the office with another shop to the right, a senior police officer said.

The officer said Kumar called on his daughter's mobile phone on February 24 but it was received by an unidentified person. The person informed Kumar that he was near the railway tracks in Sonipat's Harshana village where a man was trying to commit suicide. On a video call, Kumar identified the man trying to kill himself as Sohan Lal.

"He (Kumar) immediately reached Harshana village and collected the (victim's) mobile phone from the unidentified person. By that time, Sohan Lal had left the place," the officer said. Subsequently, Kumar lodged a missing person's complaint at Narela police station on February 24.

"During the inquiry, the playschool premises were checked in presence of the father. However, the main office was shuttered and locked," said the officer. The mobile numbers of the woman and Sohan Lal were sent for call detail record analysis and location information gathered. Sohan Lal's last location was revealed to be Haryana's Barauta.

The victim's father subsequently got the playschool's office shutter opened with the landlord's help and noticed his daughter's body behind the main desk. He called the local police, who took custody of the body, the officer said.

Her dupatta was wrapped around her neck and it appears that she was strangulated to death, he added. The police checked for Sohan Lal's whereabouts and, after contacting the Sonipat GRP, found that one person was found dead on the railway tracks on February 25. The body is being preserved in a mortuary.

"The body is strongly suspected to be that of Sohan Lal. It is now suspected that Sohan Lal strangled her (the woman) and committed suicide," the officer said. The motive for the crime is unknown. A murder case is being registered, he added.

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