A 16-year-old girl was stabbed multiple times and bludgeoned to death in northwest Delhi allegedly by her 20-year-old boyfriend in full public view on Sunday.
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He has been arrested from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, the police said on Monday.
A video of the purported incident went viral on social media, which shows the accused, Sahil Khan, stabbing her more than 20 times and then attacking her head with stones, while passers-by watched, without trying to stop him. He then fled to Bulandshahr.
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The incident took place in a densely populated and busy lane in the Shahbad Dairy area. The girl was a resident of JJ Colony in the same area and had passed Class X recently.
According to the police, a local informer alerted the beat staff of the murder, following which they recovered the body.
The police said the victim and the accused, a fridge-AC mechanic, were in a relationship but had an argument on Saturday. The next day, when the girl was planning to attend her friend’s children’s birthday party, Khan intercepted her and stabbed her to death.
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Father’s agony
According to the victim’s father, who works as a labourer, and the CCTV footage time stamp, the incident took place around 8.45 p.m. However, the police got the information only around 9.35 p.m. and the beat staff arrived at the spot immediately. An officer said the body remained on the street for nearly an hour since no PCR call was made.
“I saw the CCTV footage, I saw my child being killed by the man, and nobody tried to stop him. If only somebody had showed courage, my daughter would have been alive. Our family deserves justice, it could’ve been anybody’s daughter,” he told The Hindu. Following a complaint by the victim’s father, the police filed an FIR under IPC Section 302 and investigation is under way.
The incident drew sharp political reactions with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal saying that criminals had no fear of the police. He urged the Lieutenant-Governor to “do something” to set right the law and order situation in the Capital.
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“A minor girl was brutally murdered in Delhi. This is very sad and unfortunate. The criminals have become fearless, there is no fear of the police. L-G sir, law and order is your responsibility, do something,” Mr. Kejriwal said in his tweet in Hindi.
Love jihad, says BJP
In turn, the Delhi BJP said the incident was a case of “love jihad”, and hit out at Mr. Kejriwal for trying to portray it as a law and order issue.
“A few months ago, the Aftab-Shraddha case had shocked Delhi, Now this case has once again warns Delhiites to be aware of love jihad. It is regrettable that the Chief Minister of Delhi is trying to portray the brutal killing of a Hindu girl by Muslim youth as a law and order issue, whereas it is a case of love jihad,” said Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva.
Terming the incident “extremely disturbing and appalling”, the National Commission for Women (NCW) wrote a letter to the Delhi Police Commissioner seeking a time-bound investigation into the incident. The NCW has also formed a three-member team, headed by member Delina Khongdup, to investigate the case. The team will visit the family of the victim as well as the police officials concerned.