22-year-old man kills 18-year-old friend for refusing to date him

MUMBAI: The Sahar police have arrested a 22-year-old Jogeshwari resident for allegedly killing his 18-year-old friend by strangulating her at her residence at Marol Naka, Andheri East, in the early hours of Sunday.

Police officials said the accused, identified as Zheb Khaza Hussain Solkar, tried to harm himself after the murder and injured his left hand but stopped short of slitting his wrist. He then surrendered to the Sahar police on Sunday afternoon and allegedly told them that he killed Sara Imran Sayyed after she refused to date him.

A police team then rushed Solkar to Cooper Hospital for treatment, while another unit reached the victim’s house in the Chimatpada area of Marol. The police found Sayyed lying motionless in her bedroom while her elder sister and younger brother were sleeping in the living room, said senior inspector Dhananjay Sonawane of the Sahar police station. Sayyed was rushed to Cooper Hospital, where she was declared dead.

The accused, who lives in Jogeshwari with his parents, had gone to Sayyed’s house around 4:30 am on Sunday. He used a staircase that has direct access to Sayyed’s bedroom, which is why her siblings who were at home didn’t know of his arrival, said a relative of the victim. Sayyed’s father, Imran, who runs a garage nearby, wasn’t home at the time.

Solkar allegedly asked Sayyed to turn their friendship into a relationship, but she refused. After a heated argument, an enraged Sayyed told Solkar to kill her and then kill himself, said Sonawane. Solkar allegedly could not control his anger and strangulated Sayyed to death. He later tried to harm himself and injured his left hand – the police found blood stains on the bedroom window and in the galley, said an official. He then reached the police station around 12:30 pm and confessed his crime, added Sonawane.

It was a case of one-sided love from Solkar, said a police officer. “We have registered a case of murder under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code against Solkar and arrested him.”

The victim’s relative said they were shocked that no one heard anything while the incident occurred. “It seems that he killed her in the early hours before people woke up and opened their shops in the building on the ground floor. The girl was soft-spoken and good at studies. She celebrated her 18th birthday on June 27.”

On Monday, around 200 people, including Sayyed’s family members, relatives and friends, gathered at her home when her body was brought back from the hospital. “She used to only focus on her studies. I’ve never heard anything about her misbehaving,” said a private tutor to whom Sayyed used to go for her HSC-Class 12 exams preparation.