Passersby saw her injured, screaming for help but walked away

LUCKNOW: Housewife Sunita (39), who was

murdered

on Thursday in

Gomtinagar

cried desperately for help but nobody came to her rescue. In a chilling revelation about posh neighbourhoods,

CCTV footage

which captured the sequence of events in the Sunita Mishra murder case showed how vulnerable people are within their own houses in the newly developed colonies. Sunita was hammered to death by her step-son Vinod Mishra.

On Friday, Gomtinagar police managed to secure footage from camera installed in a house located adjacent to Mishra residence in Viram Khand II. Scanning the

CCTV

footage, investigators found that the sequence of the incident that left the 3,200 sqft bungalow spattered with blood began around 1.40pm. The footage shows that Vinod’s step-sister Antara opened the main gate when he arrived. A youth from Indiranagar, Vishal Yadav was present in the house with before Vinod’s arrival. The footage also shows Antara leaving the house after a while.

Police found in the investigation that Vinod had brought four pepper spray cans which he used on Vishal till he fell unconscious. Vinod then started attacking his step-mother. “Sunita had almost escaped from Vinod’s clutches and sprinted towards the main gate in an injured state. She kept calling for help. Two rickshawpullers nearby witnessed the entire episode as well as some passersby. But they instead of helping the woman in distress, the walked away,” said an officer heading the probes.

Vinod overpowered Sunita before she could have escaped and dragged her on the floor inside the kitchen, as is evident from the bloodstains. Antara had come back to the house and was trying to get help. Vishal recovered from the pepper spray attack and shot thrice from his licensed gun at Vinod from puncturing his abdomen. Later, Antara left the house with a friend to give information about the incident at Gomtinagar police station.

Police arrived at the scene at 2.10pm and took Vishal and Vinod into custody. Vishal was sent to jail on charge of attempting to murder Vinod, police booked Vinod, who was admitted to hospital for the bullet injuries, for Sunita’s murder. Circle officer of Gomtinagar area, DySP Satyasen Yadav said Vinod will be also taken into custody and sent to prison after he is discharged from the hospital. Police were expected to record Vinod’s statement on Saturday. Meanwhile, on Friday, Sunita’s last rites were held after autopsy.

In the course of investigation, police found out that Vinod wanted the family to sell the Viram Khand bungalow as he wanted to start up some business. Sunita was not allowing this to happen. The property was in the name of Mishra’s first wife Gayatri.

The bungalow belongs to Ram Prasad Mishra, who, after retiring from Secretariat in 2012 was officer on special duty for former Vidhan Sabha speaker Mata Prasad Pandey. In late 1990s, after Mishra’s first wife died, he married Sunita. From his first wife Mishra has two sons Vinod and Manoj and 19-year-old daughter Antara is from the second wife.