Delhi teen who stabbed family to death hated father most, tried to pin murders on him, say police

delhi

Updated: Oct 11, 2018 09:56 IST

Angered by the constant badgering by his family over his “wayward lifestyle,” a 19-year-old engineering student who hated studies stabbed his parents and teenaged sister to death at their apartment in south Delhi’s Kishangarh in the early hours of Wednesday, the police said.

After buying a knife and a pair of scissors on Tuesday, Sarnam Verma, alias Suraj, stabbed his parents and sister multiple times while they were asleep n their two-bedroom apartment at around 3 am on Wednesday, said Devender Arya, deputy commissioner of police (south-west).

Suraj, who suffered minor injuries while stabbing the three, later tried to pass off the killings as the handiwork of unidentified robbers, police said. “However, the evidence at the crime spot and the inconsistent version of events narrated by Suraj gave him away,” said the DCP.

Suraj is a first-year civil engineering student at a college in Gurugram. He lived with his parents, Mithilesh and Siya, a couple in their 40s, and 16-year-old sister. Mithilesh was an interior designer contractor who owned a four-storey building in Kishangarh village near Vasant Kunj.

Having rented out other flats in the building, the Verma family lived in a two-bedroom apartment on the first floor. Suraj’s teenager sister was a class 11 student at a private school.

The murders came to light around 5 am on Wednesday when a couple in the neighbourhood was returning home from a hospital. “We were entering our apartment when we heard Suraj calling out for help. He was leaning against his flat’s balcony and told us robbers had attacked him and his family,” said neighbour Renu Verma.

Because the main gate on the ground floor was locked from inside, Renu’s husband Yogendra jumped from his own balcony into Suraj’s home. “I found Mithilesh lying dead in one bedroom and his wife and daughter with stab wounds in another room. Suraj had relatively minor injuries on his finger, back and head,” said Yogendra.

The couple said the Vermas’ flat had been locked from inside. “It was Suraj who gave us the keys to the main gate,” said Renu. The police were informed and they rushed the four members of the family to a hospital where three of them were declared brought dead.

“Suraj told us that two men had entered the flat and attacked his family for resisting a robbery. He claimed that his mother was killed while trying to save him,” said Renu.

Investigators said Suraj’s version was riddled with loopholes from the start. “The only entrance to the house for an outsider was possible through the balcony. Our investigations revealed no one had entered through the balcony,” said the DCP.

Though Suraj had tried to pass off the murders as a robbery bid-gone-wrong, the cash, jewellery and other valuables at the house had been untouched.

“Suraj broke down and confessed. Initially, he claimed that his father had killed his wife and sister first. Suraj claimed he killed his father after watching the man kill his wife and daughter. Later, he confessed that he had killed all of them in their sleep,” said the DCP.

The officer said Suraj had a “reckless lifestyle” that irked his parents and sister. “Suraj told us that academics did not interest him. He had failed once in class 12 and would choose to watch films with friends instead of attending college,” said the DCP, quoting Suraj.

To stay away from his parents, Suraj and eight friends had together rented a small flat in nearby Mehrauli, said the officer. “His father would beat him for not studying. The last time he was beaten by his father was on August 15 when he chose to go kite flying instead of attending tuitions. He also hated his mother for objecting to home visits by his friends and frequently checking on him,” said the officer.

Police said Suraj did not spare his sister either as he grudged her for “secretly checking his mobile phone and then reporting his activities to his parents”. “Suraj said he hated his father the most. He also said he was sad after killing his sister and had cried over her body before the murders came to light,” said an investigator.

Police investigations have revealed that Suraj had also faked his own kidnapping in 2013. “He has now confessed that he was never kidnapped and that he had gone with his friends. No police case was filed then. He had returned a day after,” the investigator added.