NEW DELHI: A 24-year-old call centre executive from Mizoram was found dead at her flat in south Delhi’s Munirka Village on Thursday night. The deceased was identified as Juliet Zonunmawi from Aizawl.
Juliet’s boyfriend Virender Singh, who was visiting her on Thursday, and her landlady took her to Safdarjung Hospital where she was declared dead on arrival. Her body had several injuries, including a deep stab wound on one thigh.
Virender is a suspect in the case. Police said the stab injury probably caused heavy bleeding that led to her death. However, they will wait for the postmortem report to ascertain if Juliet stabbed herself or was attacked by someone else. They have registered an FIR under sections of murder and detained Virender along with a few others but have not arrested anyone. A medical board has been formed for the postmortem and action will be taken on the basis of its findings. Police have found the knife used in the crime.
Joint commissioner Vivek Gogia and DCP Prem Nath did not answer calls through Friday but a press statement they issued caused a furore as it said the deceased belonged to “Aizawl in Manipur”. Later, police issued a correction.
Juliet had been staying in a third-floor flat near Moti Chaupal in Munirka Village for the past two years after joining a coaching centre near Ber Sarai.
Virender, an engineering graduate from Dehradun, had also joined the centre to prepare for the civil services entrance exam. Juliet, however, left the centre in a few months and took up a job to pay for her studies.
Police have found out that Juliet partied with her friends at the one-room flat on Thursday night. Virender, who stays in Ber Sarai, said they had an argument at the party, and when he made to leave, Juliet tried to placate him by offering to cook noodles. When Juliet did not return from the kitchen even after 20 minutes, Virender went inside to check on her and found her lying in a pool of blood. He claimed she had stabbed herself.
Virender called Juliet’s landlady and they rushed her to hospital. He told police that Juliet’s friend Pari, who is also from Mizoram, was in the kitchen but he did not see her leaving as he was playing video games. Police have asked Pari to join the investigation.
Dileep, a common friend, said Juliet used to blackmail Virender with suicide threats. “Virender had even planned to walk out of the relationship but stayed on because she blackmailed him.”
Another friend, who was at the party, has also been detained for questioning. He said a group of men claiming to be policemen had come to the area looking for Juliet around 10pm but left after they did not find the house. Police are yet to verify these claims.
Juliet’s brother reached Delhi on Friday evening. The body will be handed over to the family after the autopsy.
A CFSL team inspected the house on Friday afternoon and collected evidence from the spot. They found bloody shoe prints on the stairs and these samples have been sent for analysis to a lab.
