Pandav Nagar murder: ‘Kaise himmat aagyi usme,’ say neighbours in SHOCK

The mother and son duo had disposed off the body parts at different places in east Delhi over a period of three to four days and buried the skull

Pandav Nagar Murder Photo (File Photo)

New Delhi: Neighbours of the woman accused of murdering her husband and chopping his body into ten pieces in her Pandav Nagar home here said on Monday (November 28, 2022) that they didn't know much about the family because they kept to themselves. Anjan Das (45) was killed on May 30 by his wife Poonam (48) and stepson Deepak (25) who were apprehended in Pandav Nagar, east Delhi. The neighbours were in shock and trying to figure out what could have driven the woman to commit such a heinous crime, oblivious to the conspiracy that had been hatched in their midst.The victim has a wife and eight sons in Bihar, but he kept this information from Poonam, according to police, who added that a team will be sent there to collect DNA samples from Das' family members to match the body parts. Das was murdered by his mother and son on suspicion of having an affair with his stepdaughter and stepson's wife.

According to neighbours

"Pata nahi, kaise himmat aagyi usme (I don't know from where she gathered the courage). I got to know about the case through news channels. The family was living here for the last five-six years but we had no inkling that a conspiracy was being hatched here," states Puspa, who lives in a house directly across the street from Das and Poonam's rented apartment. According to Puspa, the woman did not interact much with her neighbors. "Poonam has a son and two daughters who are married. She never interacted with the neighbours. Her son and his wife were living in the nearby area. One of her daughters had visited her almost nine months ago," said Puspa. The details of the heinous murder have left the residents in disbelief. Several women were seen discussing the case outside their homes in the area. "I cannot understand. How can a woman go to this extent to kill her husband?" said a woman resident. While another woman inquisitively asked, "Did you know her? Have you ever talked to her?

"No. I just saw her once or twice outside the house buying vegetables," said the first woman. The incident came to the fore when some of Das' body parts were found stuffed inside a bag at the Ramlila Ground in east Delhi's Kalyanpuri on June 5. Over the next few days, his legs, thighs, skull and forearm were recovered following which a case was registered under sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence and giving false information) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Pandav Nagar police station.

 Disposed body parts at different places

They had disposed of the body parts at different places in east Delhi over a period of three to four days and buried the skull, they said. The accused told police that they mixed sleeping pills in Das' drink and after he fell unconscious, used a knife and a dagger to kill him. They then slit his throat and waited for the blood to drain out completely before chopping it into pieces.

The case bears similarities with the murder of 26-year-old Shraddha Walker in the national capital. Walker was allegedly killed by her 28-year-old live-in partner Aaftab Poonawala after a confrontation who then sawed her body into 35 pieces and kept them in a 300-litre fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in south Delhi's Mehrauli before dumping them across the city. The Delhi Police arrested Poonawala on November 12.