NEW DELHI: The 16-year-old girl who was attacked with an axe by her stalker on Monday in Moti Bagh succumbed to her injuries on Tuesday, which was also her birthday. A 21-year-old youth who had been stalking her for the past few months has been arrested.
The accused, Pradeep, killed her as the girl’s father had slapped him for making advances at her. He wanted to take revenge and had bought an axe a few days ago for Rs 350 to attack her.
He was arrested from his sister’s house in Palwal, where he had been hiding.
On Monday, police got a call informing them that a girl had been attacked by a youth near a park in B-Block Moti Bagh. When cops reached the spot, they found that the girl had already been shifted to a hospital. Doctors at the hospital had declared her critical. She underwent surgery, but could not survive.
“Her body was sent for autopsy and a forensics team conducted a detailed inspection of the crime spot,” said a senior police officer.
DCP (Southwest) Ingit Pratap Singh said CCTV footage and eyewitness statements helped police establish that Pradeep had attacked the girl using an axe, which was seized from the spot.
“The probe also revealed that he had been stalking and harassing the girl for some time. She had also complained about him to his family. Her father had even slapped the youth and asked him to keep away from his daughter,” he added.
Multiple raids were conducted at Pradeep’s possible hideouts, including his sister’s house in Palwal, from where he was finally arrested within 12 hours of committing the crime.
“During interrogation, Pradeep confessed that he attacked the girl to take revenge as he felt humiliated after being slapped by her father. He has been booked for murder. His past involvements are being verified,” the officer said.
The victim’s sister said the accused had threatened to kill her before her birthday.
“He had once come to our house in an inebriated state saying he loved her. My parents told him that she had to study and this was not the right time, but he refused to listen. He warned to kill her before her birthday and eventually attacked her a day before that. My sister was in Class XI. Our father runs a shop and we helped him out. She was returning home from the shop when she was attacked. A sweets shop owner informed us about the attack after which we rushed her to the hospital,” she added.
