Doctor killed by ‘stalker’ in Delhi hospital
Though under suspension, the suspect had illegally used his access control card to quietly enter the room and slit the victim’s throat
A 26-year-old resident doctor, Shashwat Pande, was murdered inside his resting room in north Delhi’s St Stephen’s Hospital in the early hours of Friday. The alleged murderer is another doctor who had been “stalking” and “threatening” and even “assaulting” Pande.
A native of Allahabad who comes from a family of doctors, Pande was a final-year postgraduate intern in the radiology department of the hospital. He was supposed to serve as a resident doctor from 4 pm on Thursday to 8 am on Friday. However, his phone went unreachable around midnight.
A hospital attendant, who was looking for Pande on Friday, found the door of the radiology’s duty room locked. The lock was broken and Pande was found lying dead in a pool of blood. His throat was slit.
Police inspected the murder spot to find that the last person to have accessed the radiology room was Pande’s batch mate. “Though under suspension for allegedly harassing Pande, the suspect had illegally used his access control card to quietly enter the room and slit the victim’s throat,” said Jatin Narwal, DCP (North).
The suspect then destroyed the access control machine and used a lock to ensure Pande bled to death without any help. His Chevrolet Beat car was found abandoned at Anand Vihar Railway Station on Friday afternoon.
“On his Facebook page, the suspect made a post saying he enjoyed his stay in India. It could be his plan to mislead us into believing he had left the country. But we have sent teams to his native place in UP to look for him,” said an investigator.
CONTINUED ON P 5