Talwars’ lawyer Rebecca John’s mother murdered at home

“The house was found ransacked,and therefore,robbery as a motive could not be ruled out. We are yet to ascertain the missing valuables,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) OP Mishra.

The security guard of the locality had reportedly noticed that the rear door of the two-storey building was open. He informed the deceased’s relatives living on the floor above Mammen’s house.

The police were then informed – they rushed to the spot and found Mammen lying on her bed. “She had been strangled to death with a mixer-grinder wire,” said a senior police officer on condition of anonymity.

The officer added that three cupboards in the bedroom were lying ajar and had been rummaged through. “Robbery as a motive cannot be ruled out,” he said.

Mammen was a retired school teacher from Mater Dei and had been taking English tuitions in her spare time. In fact,minutes before the incident,a batch of children had only just left.

The deceased was alone at the time the assailants entered the house. She was rushed to a hospital nearby,where doctors pronounced her dead.

The officer said,“Prima facie it appears that the deceased might have resisted the robbery attempt,which led to the murder. We are investigating all angles of teh tragedy.”

Mammen,a widow,is survived by her daughter Rebecca John,residing in Ghaziabad and her two sons,living in the US and Australia.

John is defending the Talwar couple who have been accused of murdering their 13-year-old daughter Aarushi and their domestic help Hemraj in May,2008,at their home in Noida.