Despite an intensified drive by the Mumbai Police to register domestic helps after two murders in Juhu and Santacruz,yet another murder was reported from the area. A 68-year-old woman was killed and looted by domestic helps on Monday afternoon. According to the Juhu police,the incident came to light when the womans sister came to visit her and found her body in her first floor flat in Anand Society in JVPD Scheme. Bharti Kishanchand Shah was a spinster and stayed alone. She had employed two domestic helps a week ago and had not even got the chance to register them with the police. The police suspect that the domestic helps knew that their employer will register them,so might have killed her and looted the house before their details reached the police. After the two incidents of murders by domestic helps in the locality,the police had issued notices to all societies to get the domestic helps registered at the police station within a week. The details were to be verified by police officers. The Juhu police officers investigating the case said Shah,who was an architect at the JJ School of Art,mostly worked from home and did not venture out much. She had three sisters and a brother; the elder sister stayed in Andheri and was her only visitor. The sister told the police that on Sunday night Shah failed to answer her calls. When her calls went unanswered on Monday morning too,she called up Shahs neighbour and asked them check on her. Shahs sister came rushing to her house when the neighbours told her Shah was not answering the door. Since Shahs sister had a spare key,she opened the door and found Shah dead with her mouth gagged with a dupatta. She also told the police that Shah had employed two domestic helps whose names she did not know. Shah had first employed one person on the reference of her client. But when he said he was not able to do the work alone,she asked him to find another help. On Saturday,Shah called me up after the society chairman gave her a notice to get the domestic helps registered at the police station. She told me she will do it in a day or two, said Shahs sister. The residents of the society told us that although they knew Shah had employed domestic helps,they were not aware of their names nor had they seen them, said Vishwas Nangre Patil,Additional Commissioner of Police (West). The police found Shahs cupboards ransacked and gold bangles from her hand missing. The robbers,however,did not take the diamond earrings she was wearing. We have registered a case of murder against unidentified persons and are tracing the two domestic helps, added Patil.
