Man stabs wife, kills daughter in Delhi; police send teams to 4 states to nab him

A man stabbed his 35-year-old wife with a kitchen knife following an argument over money, and then stabbed his 22-year-old daughter to death when she intervened to protect her mother at their house in Najafgarh, south-west Delhi at 1am on Saturday, police said on Sunday. The man, who fled after locking his family inside the house, is on the run and police have deployed teams in four states to capture him, officers said.
Police said that a neighbour of the family made a police control room call around 1.30am time on Saturday and informed them about the incident.
Ankit Singh, deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka), said, “The neighbour made the PCR call after hearing the suspect’s 13-year-old daughter calling for help.”
Police rushed to the spot and found the 22-year-old woman and her mother lying in a pool of blood, and the couple’s other two children, a 13-year-old girl and a boy, who is the youngest of the three children, crying for help. Both were taken to RTRM Hospital where the 22-year-old, identified as Rashima Khatoon, was declared brought dead. Her mother, Sufia, was referred to DDU Hospital where she is undergoing treatment, police said.
The couple’s 13-year-old narrated the ordeal to police, officers said. In her statement to the police, the minor said that an argument broke out between her father, Abbas Ali, and mother Sufia around midnight over money, police said.
“The argument escalated to a physical fight. The couple’s three children were in the house at the time. Ali picked up a knife and stabbed Sufia in the head. Seeing this, their eldest daughter, Rashima, intervened to protect her mother. Ali stabbed Rashima in the head, neck and chest, after which she collapsed on the floor,” said DCP Singh.
Ali fled the scene after locking the house door from the outside, and the couple’s 13-year-old daughter raised the alarm and alerted their neighbour, police said.
“We think he has fled Delhi. We are checking CCTVs and multiple teams have been deployed around Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Delhi to look for him,” said a police officer on condition of anonymity.
The family is from Guwahati, Assam, and came to Delhi four-five years ago. Police said Ali was unemployed and would often fight with his wife over money. Ali has been booked under sections of murder and attempted murder under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.