Stalker stabs girl to death in central Delhi market

TNN

New Delhi, 18 Jul 2015: She dared to stand up to her stalker and paid with her life for it. Meenakshi (19) was knifed to death on Thursday night in front of terrified witnesses at a crowded market in the heart of the capital, by the man she had sent behind bars for stalking her.

 

Meenakshi was with her neighbour, returning home with groceries from a market at Punjabi Basti colony in Anand Parbat, when the accused, Jai Prakash (22) blocked her way and passed a lewd remark.

 

Witnesses said Meenakshi protested instantly. Her police complaint in 2013 had led to Prakash and his mother Shashi Bala being taken into preventive custody. Prakash’s family had since been pressuring her to withdraw the complaint.

 

Enraged by her protest, Prakash allegedly fished out a knife. Witnesses said his mother and brother Eelu, who held a grudge against the girl, caught her by the hair and twisted her arms. Before her neighbour could react, Prakash had allegedly stabbed her in the abdomen and shoulder.

 

A witness said Meeankshi called for help as she was being attacked. She somehow broke free and started running towards her home in the slum clusters of Anand Parbat with the two youths in pursuit. She managed to enter a neighbour’s house but tripped.

 

Jai Prakash and his brother dragged her out by her hair and allegedly stabbed her a few more times. Meenakshi’s mother Usha Rani, who heard the commotion and rushed out, told TOI, "She was lying in a pool of blood and the two brothers were stabbing her. When I tried to push them away, Jai Prakash stabbed me on my shoulder and slit my wrist."

 

Neighbours claim they tried to intervene but the youths swung their knives and threatened them before fleeing towards the main road.

 

 

Meenakshi and Usha went taken to RML hospital where Meenakshi died during treatment. She had six to eight stab wounds apart from a dozen abrasions, police said.

 

"Prakash was arrested later from outside a school in the area. He was trying to escape," said DCP central, Parmaditya.

 

Meenakshi’s family said they had complained against Prakash and his brother in 2013 as they used to stalk the girl as she returned from school. Meenakshi’s father, Raj Kumar, who works at a leather factory, said he had registered the complaint at the Anand Parbat police station, after which Prakash was detained.

 

Kumar said Prakash and his family members had been pressuring them to withdraw the complaint.

 

Family members said Meenakshi had started working in a private company after finishing school and had enrolled in a correspondence course. Recuperating after a recent surgery, she had celebrated her 19th birthday last week. She is survived by two elder sisters.

 

The girl’s body was handed over to the family after an autopsy at the Maulana Azad Medical college. Prakash’s family had moved into the colony in 2010 after their father passed away. The brothers had left school midway.