'Gambled frequently, accumulated debt': Man who killed wife, 3 children arrested; Delhi Police verify loan claim

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police has arrested a man accused of murdering his wife and three children in Samaypur Badli late Tuesday night.

The accused, Munchun Kewat, is a vegetable vendor who lived with his wife, Anita, and their three children in the Chandan Park area.


Police said that during initial questioning after his arrest in Rajasthan, Kewat claimed he had taken a loan from a man in Bihar who had been threatening him. Unable to repay the money, he allegedly committed the murders. Police tried contacting the person he named, but the phone was switched off. A team has been sent to Bihar to verify the claim, sources said.

A senior police officer said investigators are examining all angles and verifying Kewat's statements.

Anita's brother told TOI that Kewat had asked her father for Rs 7 lakh but received only Rs 2 lakh because the family could not afford more. "He took the money around a month before the murder and kept arguing with my sister over the loan and their financial situation," he said, adding, Kewat had also borrowed money from people in his native village. "He gambled frequently and accumulated debt. My sister repeatedly asked him to stop," he said. Police are also probing whether anyone helped him commit the crime or flee.

The incident was reported around 8.05am on Feb 25 when neighbours alerted police. A team reached the house and found Anita and her three daughters lying dead on the bed. All four had their throats slit with a sharp-edged weapon.

According to relatives, the crime came to light when the son of a family acquaintance went to check on Kewat because he had not shown up at Azadpur Mandi, where he worked regularly. With Kewat's phone switched off, the boy was sent to the house.

"I initially heard the boy screaming and thought it might be a case of theft. But he told me what happened to my family. When I went inside, I found them lying dead on the bed," she said.