The deceased had rented out her second flat – a fully furnished three-bedroom apartment – to the Guptas in February for a monthly rent of ₹18,000
A 48-year-old woman was allegedly murdered by her tenants in a Ghaziabad high-rise on Wednesday night after she went to their flat to collect five months of pending rent, police said on Thursday, adding that her body was found stuffed inside a trolley bag hidden under a bed.
Police identified the deceased as Deepshikha Sharma, who lived in the same housing complex, occupying a first-floor four-bedroom flat in a nearby tower. Her husband, an engineer, works in Faridabad during the week, while their 24–year-old daughter, an MBA graduate, works in Delhi. The victim worked at a college in Greater Noida.
According to investigators, Sharma had rented out her second flat – a fully furnished three-bedroom apartment – to the Guptas in February for a monthly rent of ₹18,000. The couple had allegedly failed to pay rent for the past five months, investigators privy with the case details said.
On Wednesday evening, Sharma told her domestic help, Minni (single name), that she was going to collect the pending rent from the tenants. Both walked together to their tower at around 8pm, police said. Sharma went up to the fifth floor, while Minni remained downstairs, walking Sharma’s pet dog.
Police said the couple then stuffed the body into the trolley bag and hid it under the bed, allegedly planning to dispose of it later. However, suspicion raised by the domestic help and the quick arrival of the victim’s husband thwarted their plans.
In his confession, the man told investigators that his transport business had shut down about six months ago, leaving him unable to pay rent. He said he had also sold his house in Sanjay Nagar and moved into the rented flat. “The landlady had come several times earlier asking for rent. On Wednesday night, the argument got out of control,” he told police, according to officials familiar with the interrogation.
Deputy commissioner of police (City Zone) Dhawal Jaiswal said preliminary findings suggested strangulation, along with a head injury. “The body was recovered intact. Claims circulating on social media that the body was cut into pieces are incorrect,” he said.
The body has been sent for post-mortem examination to ascertain the exact cause of death. Police said further investigation is under way, including reconstruction of the crime scene.
