A 72-year-old woman was strangled to death by a couple as they were unable to repay the loan taken from the victim. Police later found the woman's dismembered body parts in a canal.

The elderly woman, identified only by her first name Kavita, was living with her son and his wife in Dwarka in India's capital of New Delhi. She was reported missing on July 7. Authorities said her son and daughter-in-law were out of town at the time.

Police found that a couple living in the neighborhood was also missing. They were later taken into custody. During interrogation, the couple, identified as Anil Arya and his wife Tanu, revealed that they had taken a loan of $1,300 from the victim during the COVID-19 pandemic. They hatched a plan to murder the elderly woman as they were unable to return the money.

The duo went to Kavita's house on June 30. They strangled her to death, chopped her body into three pieces and stuffed them in separate wheeled bags, before dumping them off in the canal, India Today reported.

The couple allegedly told her that she should not ask them to repay the loan as they were looking after her mentally challenged brother.

"This led to an argument, and the two allegedly strangled her using a water pipe," police said Wednesday, according to Yahoo News.

Anil, who worked at an event management company, told police that Kavita was constantly asking them to return her money.

Police said CCTV visuals from their neighborhood showed two people with bags standing outside a building on the night of June 30, NDTV reported. They spent the entire night in her home cleaning the blood after chopping her body, police said. The police have filed a case of murder, abduction, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence against the couple.

Crime scene
Representational image AFP / Johannes EISELE
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