The Delhi Police on Wednesday recreated the crime scene in northwest Delhi's Shahbad Dairy, where a 16-year-old girl was repeatedly stabbed and bludgeoned to death allegedly by 20-year-old Sahil. The investigators are yet to find the murder weapon three days after the incident, officials said.
Fresh CCTV footage surfaced in which the victim is seen walking on a street minutes before she was killed. On Tuesday, another CCTV footage showed Sahil talking to someone near the spot where he killed the teenager.
Police said Sahil was taken to the spot in the early hours of Wednesday. "We recreated the scene of the crime to establish the sequence of events and understand how he executed the crime and what did he do after that," a senior police officer told PTI.
Sahil allegedly threw away the knife he used to kill Sakshi, the victim, into the bushes at Rithala. The knife is yet to be recovered, the officer said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer North) Ravi Kumar Singh said, "We have the accused in our custody and his interrogation is underway. We are looking at all aspects to connect the links. We are working to unearth the role of all the individuals involved in the incident. Our teams are trying to recover the weapon used in the crime."
Friends called to join probe
Three of Sakshi's friends -- Bhawna, Ajay alias Jhabru and Neetu -- were called in by the Delhi Police to join the investigation and their statements have been recorded.
A senior police officer said during interrogation, Sahil said he was angry after Sakshi rebuffed him in front of her friends and refused to get back to him. The probe carried out so far has revealed that no one was involved with Sahil in the crime, police said, adding that the accused has confessed to having executed it himself. He has also told police about the location in the forest area of Rithala where he threw the murder weapon but since it was dark on Sunday night, he has not been able to point out the exact spot.
Ajay, who is reportedly the victim’s ex, said Sakshi had complained to him about Sahil on Saturday. He told PTI, "On Saturday, Sakshi came and said Sahil pestered her. Me, along with Bhawna and Sakshi, went to meet Sahil and asked him not to bother her. However, on Sunday, he committed the crime."
Sahil had allegedly hatched the plan to kill Sakshi two days before the incident. Sakshi had rebuffed him in front of her friends and refused to mend their relationship.
"When I heard about the incident and went to the spot, I saw her body lying there. Her skull was ruptured and her intestines jutting out. I helped the police shift the body into an ambulance," Ajay added.
Meanwhile, police said the friends who were questioned have been cooperative, adding that they have revealed how despite Sakshi telling Sahil sternly that she did not want to continue in a relationship with him and to stay away from her, the accused kept following her.
Locals took out a candle march demanding strict punishment for the accused. Around 150 to 200 people took part in the march, which was taken out in a market area near the victim's residence.
Sakshi was stabbed more than 20 times and then bludgeoned with a cement slab, killing her on the spot. Her body had 34 injury marks and the skull was smashed.
According to police, Sahil went to a nearby park and sat there for a while after committing the crime. Subsequently, he went to the Rithala metro station where he claimed to have thrown the knife into the bushes. He then took a bus from the Anand Vihar ISBT to go to Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, police said.
A call to his home led to his arrest from Bulandshahr. Police are likely to seek further custody of the accused for at least five days.
