18-year-old woman murdered in Moti Nagar store trial room; brother-in-law arrested

Representative image. | Photo Credit: SHASHI SHEKHAR KASHYAP An 18-year-old woman was found murdered inside the trial room of a clothing store in west Delhi’s Moti Nagar on Saturday evening. Delhi Police has arrested her 23-year-old brother-in-law following an overnight operation involving multiple teams.The deceased, identified as Shabnam, worked at Vastraa Mahal in Moti Nagar and was alone inside the store when the accused, Suraj, entered. An argument broke out between them, following which he allegedly pushed her into the trial room, around 10–15 feet from the counter, and attacked her with a sharp-edged weapon, the police said. Her throat had been slit, and a blood-stained knife was recovered near the body.Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Saurabh Chandra said the incident was reported around 5.30 p.m., though a PCR call was received only at 8.50 p.m. The call was made by the owner of a store opposite Vastraa Mahal, where Shabnam had allegedly worked before joining the clothing store around three months ago.The police examined CCTV footage from inside the showroom and the surrounding area to identify the accused. Eight to 10 teams, led by the Station House Officer and assisted by the ACP Operations team, were deployed to trace him.“An intensive operation was conducted throughout the night. The teams worked on developing technical surveillance and manual intelligence, based on which we apprehended the accused from Delhi. Further interrogation will help establish the motive behind the murder,” Mr. Chandra said on Sunday.Shabnam was the youngest of three sisters. Her two elder sisters were married to two brothers from the accused’s family. Suraj is the younger brother of their husbands.The victim’s father alleged that the two families had been embroiled in a dispute for around 18 months. He said that although they had reached a compromise in May, relations remained strained, with the accused’s family stopping communication with them.“We found out at 9 p.m. that our daughter had been killed in the shop. Suraj killed her. We demand that all six people in the family be punished. There was a fight between the families one-and-a-half years ago. After the compromise in May, we signed a settlement as our two daughters were married into that family. However, they stopped talking to us,” he said.The police are questioning the accused to ascertain the motive and circumstances leading to the murder. Published - November 15, 2026 08:58 pm IST