Two days after a 16-year-old girl was stabbed over 20 times and bludgeoned to death in Delhi’s Shahbad Dairy area, the accused man was sent to two days of police remand.
The accused, 20-year-old Sahil, is said to have been in a relationship with the 16-year-old victim identified as Sakshi.
The killing was caught on camera, which showed Sahil stabbing Sakshi over 20 times. He kept attacking her even after she died and slumped on the ground. The video led to massive outrage not just for the brutality but also for the public apathy as several people were at the scene but no one intervene as the accused killed the teenager.
Here is all we know so far related to Delhi’s Sakshi murder case.
What we know of the murder?
Sakshi was killed on May 28 in a bylane of Shahbad Dairy area in northwest Delhi.
On May 28, Sakshi was reportedly on her way to a friend’s son’s birthday party when Sahil accosted her and stabbed her over 20 times, kicked her, and beat her head with a boulder.
Many people witnessed the incident, as per the footage available, but did not intervene.
The footage shows the accused pinning the victim against a wall and stabbing her continuously even after her body fell to the ground.
The police received a call around half an hour after the crime took place at 9:30 pm on Sunday night.
Sahil fled from the scene after the incident, but the police were able to track his location after he made a phone call to his father. He was found hiding at a relative’s house in Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh and was arrested from there.
What do we know of the motive?
In a confession after his arrest, Sahil told the police that he had “no regrets” over the killing of Sakshi, according a report in ABP News.
The report further said that Sahil had been planning the murder for 15 days when he purchased the knife used in the killing.
“The conspiracy to kill the minor girl was hatched 15 days before the incident, ABP news sources said. The accused was frustrated as he was being ignored by the girl, the sources said,” said the report.
A tattoo was found on the victim’s body bearing the name Praveen, which might be a reason for the couple’s argument, according to a report.
Mirror Now reported, “According to police, the victim wanted to end her relationship with the accused, but he kept approaching her and wanted to get back together. The victim had a tattoo on her hand bearing the name ‘Praveen’ which police said could also be a cause of frequent fights between Sahil and the girl and her eventual killing.”
In the interrogations, Sahil mentioned a boy named Jhabru who Sakshi was allegedly forming a close friendship with, reported ABP News. However, India Today cited Delhi Police to report that the accused has been frequently changing his story and his comments are yet to be verified to determine whether it they are truthful or not.
Although a detailed post-mortem report has not been released yet, preliminary reports show that apart from the stab wounds, the girl sustained major damage to her skull, which had been ruptured by the heavy blows, according to reports.
As per reports, Sakshi, who had just passed her 10th board exams, had been in a relationship with Sahil for approximately two years, but they frequently argued. The couple had one such argument on Sunday, which led Sakshi to stop talking to Sahil.
The parents of the girl did not know anything about Sahil and Sakshi’s relationship, as she had not told them about him.
Reactions to the killing
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chairperson Swati Maliwal have spoken regarding this incident.
Kejriwal recently tweeted, “A minor girl has been has been brutally murdered openly in Delhi. This is extremely sad and unfortunate. Criminals have become fearless and do not fear the police. LG Sir, law and order is your responsibility, do something. The safety of the people of Delhi is of paramount importance.”
Maliwal tweeted, “Delhi has become extremely unsafe for women and girls. I appeal to the central government to call a high-level meeting with the Union HM, Delhi LG, DCW Chief, and Delhi CM.”
