Woman doctor's body with throat slit found in rented flat in central Delhi

The body of a 25-year-old doctor with her throat slit was found in her rented flat in central Delhi's Ranjeet Nagar area, police said Wednesday. The deceased has been identified as Garima Mishra, a native of Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, they said.

According to the landlord of the rented flat, she was supposed to take a bus to her hometown on Tuesday at around 8.00 pm. However, unable to reach her on phone, her cousin, who stays at Sheikh Sarai, rushed to her place. Landlord Gautam Khurana said since the door was locked from outside, Mishra's brother asked him to break the lock.

Her cousin peeped into the room where he found her body with throat slit lying in a pool of blood on the floor, Khurana said. The light was switched off and the fan was on while her bags were lying on one side of the room, he said. The duo saw the body, following which Khurana called up the ambulance and immediately alerted police about it at around 11.56 pm.

Khurana said Mishra stayed in a single room on the third floor of the apartment and the adjacent room was shared by two other male doctors namely Chandra Prakash Verma, from Lucknow, and Rakesh. The rent was shared among the three and they had access to a common kitchen. Mishra and Verma, both friends, took the house on rent in January this year. The duo was working at Delhi govt-run NC Joshi Memorial Hospital in Karol Bagh. However, Mishra quit her job a few months ago to prepare for higher studies.

Khurana said he last saw Mishra at around 7.15 pm and later saw Verma leaving the house at around 8.45 pm with a backpack. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Mandeep Singh Randhawa said it is suspected that Verma fled after allegedly killing the woman.

The landlord said they never found them to be troublemakers and had minimum interaction with them. They did not find anything suspicious about their behaviour. Rakesh, also a doctor works at Apollo hospital, is known to Verma, the landlord said. None of the tenants heard any noise or were aware about the incident until police came in. Rakesh is in police custody.

"Rakesh was taken into custody for questioning. He was not at home at the time of the incident. He had gone to temple and returned home at around 9.00 pm." During questioning, Rakesh told police that Mishra and Verma were close friends and ruled out any argument or fight between the two, the DCP said.

Police have scanned through CCTV footage in the area to keep a tab on the persons who entered the locality. An employee at the NC Joshi Memorial hospital said Mishra, who worked as a junior resident in the ophthalmology department left the job around three-four months ago.

Verma, however, continued to work there as a junior resident in the surgery department and had worked in the 8 am to 3 pm shift on Tuesday and then left, the employee said. Despite being contacted, hospital authorities did not respond in the matter.

Police were informed at 12.00 am, following which they went to the spot and found the woman's body lying in the two-room apartment. A case has been registered and a probe is underway, the DCP said.

Police teams have been sent to Uttar Pradesh to nab the absconding doctor. The woman's family did not wish to respond in the matter.