On December 29 last year, Kaushalaya Devi was found dead in her Jangpura Extension residence. Police said she had been tied to a chair with a nylon cord and her body bore injury marks. It appeared that she had been smothered to death.

Kaushalya had come down from the US to pursue a dispute case with her ground-floor neighbour. Her son-in-law, A. Chaudhary, who was helping her with the case, told the police that a rickshaw-puller working for Kaushalya had gone missing after the incident.

A few days back, police received information that Hasim’s mother-in-law had been seen in Nizamuddin area. She was traced and interrogated. She told the police that Hasim was working as a labourer in Chandosi, Uttar Pradesh. On reaching Chandosi, police found that Hasim was back in Delhi and was probably living with a relative in Narela. The police finally arrested Hasim from Narela yesterday.

On interrogation, the accused revealed that he was working at the victim’s house and was paid Rs 1,500 per month. He was in need of money and Kaushalaya had allegedly not paid his dues for 10 months. One day before the incident, Hasim said he requested the woman to pay his salary but she allegedly abused him.

The next day, Hasim reached the house in the morning and pushed Kaushalaya on a sofa. He tied her with a nylon cord and smothered her. After killing her, he took her purse and some documents.