Harassing her for the last six months, a 22-year-old stalker stabbed a 21-year-old aspiring air hostess ten times near her house in full public view in East Delhi’s Mansarovar Park area outside the Peer Wali Gali of Ram Nagar on Wednesday at 5.10 pm.
The victim, Riya Gautam, was rushed to Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital where she was operated upon. However, around 2 am on Thursday she succumbed to her injuries, police said.
The gory incident was captured on CCTV cameras of a nearby Anil Photo Studio. “In one of the CCTV footages, it is seen that the attacker, Nanhe Khan, alias Adil, and Riya were walking close to the lane outside the girl’s house. An altercation took place between the two and it escalated. Adil took a knife and started stabbing Riya repeatedly. To save her, she went inside the photo studio but he followed her and kept stabbing her until she fell unconscious. Riya suffered around ten stab wounds on her chest and abdomen,” said a senior police officer privy to the probe.
Now, hunt is on to nab Adil, a notorious auto lifter in the area, who has been to jail four times. Police said they have formed several teams and have deployed them across bus stops, railway stations to arrest the accused. Anil, owner of the Photo Studio and a key eyewitness to the murder, told The Pioneer, “I was sitting at my house, located above my studio.
After seeing the attack on the CCTV footage I rushed to help the girl. Along with two three other locals, I tried to get hold of the boy but he pushed me away and fled.”
Shocked Riya’s father Girwar Singh Gautam lamented that had police acted on their earlier complaints against Adil, the incident could have been avoided.
“Three months ago, we had submitted a written complaint at the MS Park Police station against Adil but the local police did nothing. Rather they told us that he is in Gujarat,” said the grieving father, who works as a laboratory assistant in the Maulana Azad Medical College.
“On that day Riya told us that she was going out to buy Maggie. However, a few minutes after she left, neighbours informed us she was attacked,” said Girwar, fighting back his tears.
Riya was the youngest child in the family. She was very hard working, said the father sitting among the mourning relatives. The girl is survived by her parents and two elder brothers and an elder sister.
In the course of the investigation, investigators found that Riya was in touch with Adil for the past six months. During preliminary investigation, it has emerged that Riya wanted to shut all communication with Adil but he kept on pestering her.
Nupur Prasad, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) said, “Seven teams have been put on the job to nab the accused at the earliest. An FIRe under section IPC 302 has been registered and investigation is going on.”