Delhi woman shot dead in front of husband, 1-yr-old son

A 34-year-old woman was shot dead in front of her husband and one-year-old son allegedly by unidentified assailants on Wednesday in northwest Delhi's Shalimar Bagh area, the police said.

The incident took place around 4 am when the family was returning from the Bangla Sahib Gurdwara, they said.

Priya Mehra suffered bullet wounds on her neck and face, the police said.

Her husband, Pankaj Mehra had taken Rs 40 lakh on credit and was unable to return the amount. He claimed that the lenders had been threatening him and had asked him to return the amount with the interest, they said.

Pankaj told police that they went to Bangla Sahib Gurdwara on Tuesday night and then went to an eatery near Jama Masjid for dinner.

The accused overtook their vehicle near the Rohini Jail when they were returning and one of them broke their car's window with a pistol and hit Pankaj, the police said.

The husband claimed that the the accused shot one round which probably hit Priya near the eye.

Pankaj tried to resist, but he fired another round which hit the woman, the police said.

They wanted to fire more rounds, but the pistol jammed, Pankaj told police, adding that he sped away in his car from there and took her to a hospital.

Police said that the woman was declared brought dead at the hospital.

Pankaj told police that he had borrowed the money from a Sonipat-based moneylender Monu.

Police suspect that Pankaj was the target but the accused ended up killing his wife. However, they added that they are probing all angles and questioning other family members of the victim and her husband.

Pankaj had opened a restaurant in north Delhi in 2016 but had to close it down since he incurred heavy losses.