18-year-old found murdered inside trial room in Delhi; suspect on the run

15 Nov 2026, 10:50 AM 4 min read

NEW DELHI: An 18-year-old saleswoman was found murdered inside the trial room of a clothing showroom in west Delhi's Moti Nagar on Saturday evening, with police identifying a 29-year-old man as the prime suspect.The victim, identified as Shabnam, was allegedly attacked with a knife before the accused fled. Police have formed teams to trace and apprehend the suspect, identified as Suraj, a resident of Sudamapuri in Moti Nagar.Her body was discovered inside the trial room of Vastr Mahal, located at 6/18, Moti Nagar.

She had a sharp injury on her neck, and a blood-stained knife was recovered near her body, police said.A woman claiming to have witnessed the events leading to the discovery of the body said Shabnam had previously worked for her before joining a shop directly opposite her workplace."The girl used to work for me... She had started working at a place right across from mine. At around 6.45 PM, I noticed her—I could see her shop from my own—sitting there and using her phone," the woman said.She said she received a call from Shabnam's employer around 7.30 pm, informing her that the young woman was missing after a man allegedly assaulted her."Around 7.30pm, I received a call from her employer, who said, 'I don't see Shabnam in the shop.

A man came by and beat her up quite severely. Could you please go and check what happened? She is nowhere to be found, and she left the shop wide open.' I went over, but we couldn't find anything..." she said.The witness said two neighbours later arrived at the showroom, closed the shop and locked it around 8 pm. However, after checking the CCTV footage, they returned around 8.30 pm, suspecting that Shabnam might still be inside."Then, around 8.30pm, the men came back to me and said, 'Shabnam must still be inside—we checked the footage, and she never left.

We only saw a man leave, but she didn't come out. Could you come inside with us to take a look?'" she said.The group entered the showroom while recording a video. The woman said they initially found nothing, before noticing Shabnam's scarf near the trial room."We went inside while recording a video, but we couldn't see anything at first. Then, my eyes fell toward the very back—the trial room—where I spotted her scarf (chunni) lying on the floor, and blood was seeping out from inside..."The woman said they immediately alerted the police and contacted Shabnam's parents."We immediately called the police and contacted Shabnam’s parents...

Her throat had been slit, and she was lying on the floor, with blood everywhere," she said.A PCR call reporting a woman lying unconscious inside the showroom was received at Moti Nagar police station on November 14. A police team reached the spot and found Shabnam dead.Crime team personnel and forensic science laboratory experts subsequently inspected the scene and collected evidence.

Her body was shifted to the mortuary of Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital for a post-mortem examination.During the preliminary investigation, police found that two of the suspect's brothers are married to two sisters of the deceased.Based on a complaint lodged by Shabnam's brother, police registered a murder case under Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.Police teams later visited Suraj's residence but found it locked.