Delhi, June 16: A young man was arrested for allegedly raping a 62-year-old vegetable vendor and stabbing her to death in Delhi on Sunday.


The incident took place in East Delhi on Sunday. Police said the accused was identified using CCTV footage and an initial probe revealed that he had allegedly stabbed the victim 25 times to ensure his crime was never detected, the police said. 


“We have registered an FIR of murder after we received a complaint from the victim’s son and arrested the accused, identified as Vipin Dedha. Prima facie, it appears to be a case of sexual assault," said Priyanka Kashyap DCP East District of the national capital. 


She said the victim lived with her son, who works as a security guard, and her nephew. “The incident came to light on Sunday afternoon when the victim’s son came back from work and found her lying in a pool of blood. He immediately informed police, who rushed to the spot along with forensic experts. The victim’s throat was slit with a sharp-edged weapon and multiple sharp injuries were found on her stomach,” said a police officer.


During the investigation, police found that the victim was at her shop along with her nephew before she came home around noon to cook.


“We checked all CCTV cameras in the locality; footage from one camera showed the accused. With the help of local police staff, we identified and arrested the accused on Sunday evening,” an officer said.


On questioning, the accused told police that he first allegedly raped the victim and then stabbed her multiple times to mislead the police. “


He was apprehended due to the sincere efforts put in by the SHO and beat staff in particular, who detected the case within a very short period of a few hours (4-5 hours) using technical inputs and human intelligence, the official said. 


The police said that during interrogation, the accused admitted to having committed the offence. The weapon used in the commission of the crime, a knife has been recovered,” Kashyap said.