‘Never scolded him, then why…?’: Grieving husband after wife, son killed by store worker in Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar

On Wednesday evening, an employee who worked at Kuldeep’s garment shop in Lajpat Nagar’s Central Market allegedly killed his wife, Ruchika (42), and son, Krish (14), at their home. Police say the accused, Mukesh, was angry that Ruchika had scolded him for taking one too many holidays and wanted revenge. Mukesh was apprehended hours after the crime while trying to flee to Bihar on a train.

“In the evenings, I am usually the only one home…,” says Kuldeep, as his voice breaks. He keeps mumbling about Mukesh to a relative. “I never scolded him over anything. I was always polite. Then why…?”

Ketan (36), Kuldeep’s cousin, who was with him as he waited for the bodies, recalls getting a frantic call from him on Wednesday night.

“He (Kuldeep) initially dropped his son at his home. Then he came to the shop, where bhabhi (Ruchika) was. After he came, she went back home at 6 pm. The next call I got from him was around 9.30 pm, saying there is blood inside the house and no one is opening the door,” says Ketan, who also has a garment shop adjacent to that of Kuldeep.
Mukesh initially used to work at Ketan’s shop — about two and a half years ago — but he fired him over his frequent absences.

“But bhaiya (Kuldeep) needed a worker, so I recommended Mukesh. Bhaiya was very generous with the staff; he even celebrated their children’s birthdays. So I thought Mukesh would change his ways,” he says.

In the upper-middle-class F block of Lajpat Nagar, the Sewani family has lived for the past eight years at F-40 — a five-storey building they owned, except for the third floor.

The neighbourhood is lined with neatly arranged residential blocks surrounding a well-maintained park. Its residents are business owners who employ hundreds of workers, like the accused. They are now in shock.

Businessman Vishal Chopra (50), says he got a call at 9.30 pm from his son. Kuldeep, a neighbour whom he ran into occasionally at the local park, was at his door.

“My son, Arnav, said Kuldeep uncle is here and he’s saying his wife is not opening the door… and that there was blood on the stairs of his house. I rushed home,” says Chopra.

Arnav, 22, says he was watching TV when Kuldeep arrived. “He said he had been calling aunty (Ruchika), but she wasn’t responding. He had also sent an employee to check on them before he came. When no one opened the door, he climbed atop a car and spotted blood through the window.”

Arnav asked Kuldeep to immediately call the police. A team from the Lajpat Nagar police station reached the spot. By 9.45 pm, they broke open the front gate of the building — and found Ruchika and Krish dead inside.

At the store, Mukesh’s colleagues said he has worked for the family for the past three years. Like other workers, he was a regular in the neighbourhood, coming in to collect garments, loading them in autos, and ferrying them back to Central Market.

But his co-workers said his working style was erratic.

“Last month, he took a four-day holiday; he said he was getting engaged. But he came back after almost 25 days. He then took another holiday after a couple of days, saying he had a stomach ailment. He then came back about eight days ago,” said Surender, one of the workers.

“Kaun sa boss apne employee ko nai daant ta (Which employer doesn’t scold his staff?),” asks Badrul Hassan, 47, who’s been at the store since 2019.
“How can that lead to this (murder)?”