Malik was in shock but said he had expected something like this to happen. ``I know who has done this, the Nirankari Mission men were after me and they had threatened to harm my family if I did not listen to them,'' he says, with a steely calm in his voice. He said there had been trouble between him and the Nirankari mission over the past decade. They reportedly wanted to take possession of Malik's 12-acre farm in Jharoda village, barely 2 km from his residence.

``I have not had a minute's peace for the past 10 years. I also do not go out except to my office and that too only out of compulsion,'' said Malik, who works as an assistant in the academic branch at Delhi University.

Sonia had been alone at the house as her mother Daya was at work. She is a section officer at the Indian Council of Medical Research. The Maliks have another daughter who is married. Sonia had been doing her Masters in Political Science at DU.

The maid had entered the house just minutes before Malik came in and was washing utensils in the kitchen just metres away from the body. She is said to have told Malik that Sonia was not to be seen. Malik was surprised that Sonia had not come out to welcome him as usual and ask for his customary cup of tea. The front door used to be left open for him. Thinking that she had gone to the nearby market, he entered his room and nearly tripped over the body.

A senior police officer said they are investigating the property dispute angle as well as robbery. Chances of the latter are slim though the contents of an almirah had been rummaged through, but nothing has been reported missing, the officer added.