45-year-old woman attacked by stalker

Marriage proposal rejected, man stabs victim multiple times

A 45-year-old woman was brutally attacked in broad daylight at Kanchanbagh in the Old City area on Friday afternoon by a man who has been allegedly stalking and harassing her for more than a year. The victim’s daughter said they had complained against the man, identified as Habeeb, to the police but he was let go later.

The victim, a mother of six, lives at Hafeez Baba Nagar with her children after her husband’s demise. “Habeeb also resides in the same locality and had been harassing and stalking her in the name of love. Recently, he proposed to her for marriage and she allegedly rejected his advances. Irked by her response, he attacked her with a knife on Friday at 1:15 pm, as she was heading back home after meeting her sister,” said police inspector of Kanchanbagh, C. Uma Maheshwar.

CCTV footage of the incident went viral on social media platforms, where it could be seen that Habeeb followed her while she was heading back home on foot and attacked her on her head from behind, causing her to fall down on the road. He then proceeded to attack her with a knife, but as the public gathered around the two, he fled the place. Two men were seen trying to intervene, but backed up seeing a knife-wielding Habeeb.

Her daughter said Habeeb had been living in their area for about two years and had been stalking and harassing her mother. “We complained against him but no action was taken. Even locals tried to stop him in this matter but in vain. Her condition is said to be serious, we hope that the police take action at least this time,” she said.

When asked about the old case, the inspector said a harassment case was booked in September, 2021, in which he was out on bail and that the case was under trial.

The incident also caused a mild traffic jam at the spot, which was cleared after the police moved the victim to a nearby hospital. “A case was booked under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC and efforts were on to trace and nab the absconding attacker,” said the police.