A decomposed body of a 65-year-old woman was found in her apartment at Ghaffar Manzil in Jamia Nagar on Sunday night, sending shockwaves through the locality. The grim discovery left residents disturbed, as what appeared to be an ordinary day turned into a scene of tragedy and despair.
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Inside the flat, police also found the woman’s husband, a retired music teacher from Jamia Millia Islamia, Siraz Khan aged 70 years, lying in a critical condition. He was immediately rushed to hospital for treatment. Their son, who was present in the house throughout, added another tragic layer to the incident.
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Khan was shifted to the AIIMS trauma centre for immediate medical care. He is critical but stable, police said.
Their son, Imran alias Shally, aged around 50, is intellectually challenged and has a long history of psychiatric illness. According to police, Imran remained inside the apartment but refused to open the door despite repeated calls, even as the situation grew dire. He was speaking from inside. On questioning, son Imran couldn’t speak comprehensively and told that his mother and father are sleeping. He confined himself to the house for the last 3-4 days without food, said police.
Police said it reached the spot and broke open the door.
SHO Jamia Nagar, ACP NFC along with staff reached the spot where the caller was present. The door of the appt was locked from the inside. With the help of neighbours, the door was broken open to enter inside, said police.
According to police, a PCR call was received at 11.10 pm on September 21 regarding a body at Gaffar Manzil in Jamia Nagar. The caller informed that his sister and brother-in-law were not responding, and their son was not opening the door.
“Inside, they found the decomposed body of Aftab Jehan on the bed. Her husband, Siraz Khan, 70, was lying beside her in a fragile condition. He was rushed to AIIMS Trauma Centre,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Hemant Tiwari said.
“During questioning, the son could not speak comprehensively and kept saying his parents were sleeping. He had confined himself to the flat for three to four days without food and could not call for help,” the DCP said.
On enquiry, it was found that the couple’s son couldn’t call for help from neighbours and relatives for fetching medical care for parents. Police said Imran was taken to IHBAS Hospital, Shahdara, and subsequently shifted to GTB Hospital after no relatives came forward to accompany him.
Primary inspection of the deceased body revealed that the body was highly decomposed.
No injury is revealed and it appears to be a natural death due to illness however the exact cause of death can only be revealed after the post-mortem examination, police said.
Their daughter lives in Hong Kong with her family. She tried to talk to her family (mother, father and brother) in past 3-4 days but couldn’t establish any contact with them, so she called her maternal uncle to see the family. Maternal uncle W Ahmed Khan is residing nearby in Jamia Nagar.
Inspection of the crime scene was done by the District Crime team and proceeding U/s 176 BNSS is being conducted.
Ghaffar Manzil resident Tahmima, who knew the family well, told OT that the deceased, Aftab Jehan, was very concerned about her intellectually challenged son, who had a long history of psychiatric illness. “We used to meet regularly, except in the last week. Her son Imran was a extremely good ghazal singer until a few years ago. I remember when we invited him to a Republic Day event at his mother’s request years ago. She took great care of him. Siraz Khan, her husband, was bedridden. When news of the incident spread in the locality on Sunday night, we all rushed there. Residents are in deep shock.”
Another neighbour, Arslan, said he was about to rest when he received a call about something happening in Aftab Jehan’s flat. “I rushed there and saw the police and other local residents. I immediately realised that something was wrong, and it was there I learned that she had passed away. She was well-known in the locality; I often saw her going to Julena on an e-rickshaw to get medicine for her husband. At times, I even spoke with her. Her passing has cast a pall of gloom over the neighbourhood. The police are investigating the incident, and we will wait for the final report after the post-mortem is completed. There were rumours in the locality, but I think it is too early to jump to any conclusions in such cases,” he added.
