Stalker attacks 19-yr-old with knife in public, then stabs himself

A 19-year-old woman was stabbed multiple times, allegedly by a man who worked with her and had been stalking her, in full public view near Kirby Place in southwest Delhi’s Cantonment area on Sunday night. The accused then stabbed himself, police said, adding that the man was angry as the woman had allegedly rejected his marriage proposal. Both are undergoing treatment at DDU Hospital.

According to police, the incident took place between 9.30pm and 10pm. The woman sustained at least three to four stab injuries to her neck and abdomen, while the man suffered minor wounds to his abdomen. A pedestrian alerted the police control room around 11pm.

Videos of the incident were widely circulated on social media. In one purported clip, a man is seen lying on a road divider while the woman sits nearby, drenched in blood. Locals attempt to stop her bleeding by tying a scarf around her neck. HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage.

Deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Surendra Choudhary said a knife was recovered from the crime scene.

“A police team reached the spot and found that a man had stabbed a woman in the neck and abdomen. He also stabbed himself. Upon further inquiry, we came to know that the man and the woman had been acquainted for the past year. Some issue arose between them and it ended in the man stabbing the woman. Both were admitted to DDU Hospital and are under treatment,” Choudhary said.

Police said they filed a case against the accused under section 109(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the Delhi Cantt police station.

A forensic science lab team and a crime team were called to the spot to collect evidence. The woman’s slippers, a vegetable knife, and bloodstains from the footpath and road divider were recovered.

“The woman lives in the Old Nangal Rai area. The man is a resident of Sadar Bazaar. Our inquiry found that both worked at a sari shop in the area,” said an officer involved in the investigation.

In her statement, the woman told police that she and the accused “were” in a relationship over the past year.

“She said she wanted to break up and they had a fight over it. On Sunday, he called her to meet at Kirby Place. He stabbed her from behind—in the left side of her neck and below the chest. He had planned the attack and was carrying a knife. After stabbing her, he began shouting abuses and then stabbed himself in a fit of rage,” the officer said. Both remain in the ICU, he added.

Preliminary inquiries revealed the woman hails from Kanpur and moved to Delhi last year. “She and her 17-year-old brother worked at a sari shop, where they met the accused. The family knew him but was unaware of the relationship. She wanted to focus on her career and get a better job, so she ended it. This angered him and he began stalking her, but she kept rejecting his advances,” said another officer.

Senior police officers said the woman had rejected the man’s marriage proposal and wanted to end the relationship. The accused, however, felt “betrayed” and attacked her, they said.

At DDU Hospital, the woman’s younger brother said: “I can’t believe he stabbed her. He was like a brother to me. We all worked together… ate together. Why would he do this? My sister always spoke well of him. She left school after class 8 to support our mother, who works as a house help. It’s her 20th birthday tomorrow.”

“She was the sole breadwinner earlier and had saved ₹2 lakh. My daughter always helped me. She is critical and we don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know why the man stabbed her. She was always nice to him,” her mother, 50, said.