NEW DELHI: A 23-year-old woman took brutal revenge on her father-who was allegedly sexually abusing her for the past three years - bludgeoning him in his sleep with the help of two male friends and then tearing apart his chest with a piece of glass to wrench out his pacemaker, just to make sure he died. Police said the woman and her boyfriend, a tattoo artist, roped in a common friend for the crime in west Delhi's Rajouri Garden, the brutality of which even left investigators horrified.

The trio first bludgeoned the 56-year-old man with a wicket in his sleep, hitting him at least 20 times on the head and face, and then strangulated him with hands and a cable. The woman then tore apart his chest, police said. The hand and legs were tied up like a crossbow and the body wrapped up in a bedsheet. The killers stuffed the body in the boot of an Innova, which belonged to the victim's employer, and dumped it near a drain, a few kilometres away. They used gloves to ensure that no fingerprints were left on the body.

Electronic and circumstantial evidence coupled with the woman's conflicting statements helped cops crack the case in 72 hours. Neha (name changed), her boyfriend, Prince Sandhu, and Ashok Sharma have been arrested.

Prince runs a tattoo salon named Satty Studio in east Delhi and Sharma works as a sales boy at a Lacoste outlet in Rajauri Garden's Westgate mall. Neha is unemployed and lived with her father. Her mother died three years ago, after which she said her father started abusing her sexually. Two of her sisters are married and live separately.

Police had recovered the mutilated body of the man in the morning of April 30, after receiving a call from a passerby. "A case of murder and destruction of evidence was registered and investigations began under ACP Eish Singhal and SHO Tanvir Ashraf," additional CP (west) Ranvir Singh told TOI. The crime team and photographer were called in who found a blood-stained pillow cover and gloves thrown beside the body which bore multiple injuries on the chest and head.

Pictures of the body were shown to the local residents for identification and details uploaded on ZIPNET, the online police network. On May 1, Neha went to Rajouri Garden police station and, crying, said the man in the photos was her father. He was identified as Rakesh Singh (name changed), who worked at a travel agency.

Neha told cops that her father had left around 5am on April 30 in the company's car. When cops inquired from his employer, he said no tours were scheduled for him. The cable used in the crime was found to have been cut from the house and a glass panel was found broken. By now, cops were sure of an insider's role.

Her call records were examined and she was found to be in constant touch with two men. The location of the phone of the two men was found to be around the crime scene. Local enquiries revealed that one of the men was her boyfriend and often visited the house. Neha was put through sustained interrogation during which she broke down and confessed.

"We arrested Prince and Sharma and recovered the blood stained cricket stump, cable, a knife, glass shards and the Innova," Singh added. "She alleged her father made physical advances towards her and exploited her. If she objected, she was beaten up and threatened. He also did not allow her to meet her boyfriend. Finally, she made up her mind to get rid of him," said an officer.

