The problem in the upscale neighbourhood was the dependence on house helps. “If you are always out, and a caretaker is always in, of course they will need to know everything about the house.”It was about 6 am on Wednesday. Just three days to go for her Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) preliminary examination, a 22-year-old aspirant was in the last phase of her preparation. She was studying in a room on the terrace of the house.Within an hour, she was allegedly sexually assaulted and strangled to death with a mobile phone charger at the Southeast Delhi home, said police. About 14 hours later, the accused, Rahul Meena, 23, a former house help who was sacked recently, was arrested from Dwarka.The 22-year-old, an IIT graduate and the daughter of an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, had been preparing for the UPSC for over a year now. She had managed to get top grades even when she was in school, said her family. She had earned accolades for extracurricular activities too, including dance.“She was a prodigious student from the get-go. She had her prelims in the next three days. He (Rahul) targeted her for what? She did not fire her… it was a consequence of his own actions,” said her uncle at the condolence meeting later in the day.The family had shifted from a nearby building to the current house over a decade ago when she was 12. In the adjacent building, a 22-year-old boy, who said he was her childhood friend, recalled how they lost touch as she pursued excellence in different stages of her journey as a student.“I don’t even remember the last time I talked to her. But we used to hang out till she was in this building, and even for sometime after that. But after we went to college, we lost touch. She was brilliant, of course. How many people can manage to go to the IIT,” he said.The problem in the upscale neighbourhood was the dependence on house helps. “If you are always out, and a caretaker is always in, of course they will need to know everything about the house.”Story continues below this adOpposite to the building, several IRS officers stood in a group in a park, looking at the reporters and police personnel nearby. “We are just here to help… just in case Sir needs anything,” one of them said.One of the neighbours, who has lived in the locality for decades, said that the family and the 22-year-old “mostly kept to themselves.” “…Not overtly social. The daughter was the same. Just focussed on her studies,” he said. Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:New Delhi