Murders of home-alone women baffle City police

Majority of such cases are reported between 10 am and 2 pm, say cops

Murders of home-alone and elderly women have come to haunt the City police time and again.

Police claim such crimes have come down in the past few months, but admit in the same breath they still remain the biggest challenge.

Efforts of the law enforcers to arrest the perpetrators have gone in vain. “We can’t anticipate these murders as they are not committed by professional gangs. The only thing we can do is to solve such cases and bring the suspects to book,” a senior police officer said.

He claimed the police have been making an all-out effort to create awareness among residents on such murders.

Such crimes are committed primarily for monetary gains, over affairs, property disputes, and occasionally old rivalry. Women are more vulnerable, as their acquaintances, relatives and friends commit the murder in a majority of the cases, said a senior police officer of the south division.

Most of the times the accused have easy access to the victims’ houses as they open the door to acquaintances and there would be little time to retaliate. Such murders are reported between 10 am and 2 pm, the officer added.

The investigation into similar cases reported in the past few months have not moved an
inch further.

The investigating officer would have to collect a lot of information and verify the antecedents of the family members, friends and relatives. Sometimes, non-local residents would have committed the crime and fled. In such cases, it is difficult to nab the criminals because of non-availability of clues.

“But I don’t think we should have a special investigating team to solve such murders. Our police are capable of solving them,” said a senior officer.

“The jurisdictional police conduct mohalla committee meetings to ensure safety of neighbourhood against such murders. Police distribute leaflets on preventive measures and visit houses at odd hours to check out the preparedness of the citizens. But, it’s extremely difficult for our men to visit each house and create awareness because of the shortage of staff,” he said.

Citizens should keep a watch on the suspicious movements of strangers and alert the police. They should never entertain strangers into their houses, he added.