4 min readNew DelhiJul 4, 2025 10:49 AM IST
First published on: Jul 3, 2025 at 11:12 AM IST
A garment shop owner and her 14-year-old son were found dead at their Lajpat Nagar home on Wednesday night — they were brutally killed, allegedly by their 24-year-old employee.
What was the reason behind the crime?
Police said the accused was enraged over being ‘reprimanded’ for skipping work and wanted revenge. He was apprehended hours later while attempting to flee to his hometown in Bihar’s Hajipur on a train.
Police said the victims were identified as Ruchika Sewani (42) and her son Krish, a Class X student. “The accused, Mukesh Paswan, worked as a driver and a shop helper at the garment shop owned by the Sewani family in Lajpat Nagar market,” DCP (Southeast) Hemant Tiwari said.
The incident came to light after Ruchika’s husband, Kuldeep (44), was unable to reach his wife and son by phone. Kuldeep had dropped their son home — they lived in a five-storey building they owned in F Block — after cricket practice before returning to the store he ran with his wife. Ruchika then returned home at 6 pm.
Between 7 and 9 pm, neither answered their phones.
A worried Kuldeep sent one of the workers to check on them. When the worker found the door locked and no response despite ringing the doorbell, Kuldeep rushed home and called the police.
A police team quickly reached the spot and broke open the main door. Inside, officers said, they found the body of the woman in the bedroom — between the bed and a brown plastic stool. Police followed a trail of bloodstains and found the boy inside the bathroom. Both had neck injuries, which, police suspect, were inflicted by a sharp-edged weapon.
Using CCTV footage, police pieced together the sequence of events.
Another police officer said, “The murder appears to have taken place between 7 pm and 8 pm. CCTV camera footage from a nearby building shows the accused ringing the bell at 7.30 pm and leaving 17 minutes later, at 7.47 pm.”
Police said Mukesh allegedly cut the wires of the CCTV camera attached to the building where the Sewani’s lived. “The accused knew the ins and outs of the house as he would stop by, like other employees at the shop, for work-related purposes. Yesterday, he had an argument with Ruchika about the multiple holidays he’d taken. The woman also demanded the Rs 40,000 she had lent to him. That may have triggered the attack,” the officer said.
After committing the crime, police said Mukesh left through the main door, which has an automatic lock system, and took Krish’s phone with him to avoid detection.
A police team quickly got to work analysing CCTV footage in the area and tracing the teenager’s phone. This led them to Mukesh’s rented two-bedroom flat in Amar Colony’s J block, which he shared with his father and two elder brothers — one is a receptionist at a clinic and the other works at Mohan Cooperative Industrial Estate.
At his house, police only found the phone; Mukesh had fled. They took his family in for questioning.
Suspecting Mukesh might flee to his hometown, they alerted major railway stations in Delhi at 3 am on Thursday. At 7 am, police found that he had boarded the Magadh Express from New Delhi Railway Station.
“All major stations en route to Bihar were alerted. A team was in contact with the Uttar Pradesh police as the train would be crossing the state,” DCP Tiwari said.
Finally, at Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya junction, about 13 hours from the Capital, Uttar Pradesh police caught Mukesh after intercepting the Magadh Express just as it was about to depart.
“Mukesh was later handed over to the Delhi Police. He will be questioned after he is produced in court,” DCP Tiwari said.
Police will verify whether Mukesh’s police verification was done during the time of his hiring.
(L-R) The accused, Mukesh, 24 and the deceased were identified as Ruchika Sewani, 42, and her son Krish Sewani. (Express) 
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