Hindustan Times (Noida)

17-YEAR-OLD GIRL HAMMERED TO DEATH BY STALKER IN OUTER DELHI

- HT Correspond­ent letters@hindustant­imes.com

NEW DELHI: A 17-year-old girl was bludgeoned to death on Friday evening at her home in outer Delhi’s Begumpur by a man whose advances she had recently turned down, the police said on Saturday.

Police are on the lookout for the suspect, 25-year-old Laik (identified by the police by his first name), who they said was an acquaintan­ce of the victim.

Deputy commission­er of police (DCP), Rohini, PK Mishra said, “Laik was very close to the girl’s family and had known them for the last five years.”

On Friday evening, when the girl was alone, Laik visited her house where an argument ensued between the two after which he hit her with the hammer, police said.

NEW DELHI: A 17-year-old girl was bludgeoned to death on Friday evening at her home in outer Delhi’s Begumpur by a man whose advances she had recently turned down, the police said on Saturday.

Police are on the lookout for the suspect, 25-year-old Laik (identified by the police by his first name), who they said was an acquaintan­ce of the victim.

Deputy commission­er of police (DCP), Rohini, PK Mishra said, “Laik was very close to the girl’s family and had known them for the last five years. He was a frequent visitor to their home and even lived with the family for two months when they moved from Bawana to Begumpur.”

The girl’s father worked at a manufactur­ing unit and the family had moved to Begumpur from Bawana a year ago.

Laik, who also works at a factory, belongs to Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh and lived in Delhi with his uncle.

Police said Laik was on good terms with the girl’s family until recently, when he started developing feelings for the teenager. “Recently, he proposed to the girl, but she turned him down,” Mishra said based on the police’s interactio­ns with her cousin.

Laik visited her house on Friday evening, when the girl’s parents were away at work and her two brothers were in the market.

“We suspect that an argument ensued between the girl and Laik over her rejecting his proposal and that led to him beating her to death with a hammer,” the DCP said.

After the murder, Laik allegedly locked the house from outside and left with the hammer.

“While Laik was walking with the hammer, the girl’s brother saw him from a distance, but didn’t make much of it. But when the brothers returned home, they found the door locked from the outside and believed that the girl had left with Laik. But when they made a phone call to their sister and found her phone ringing inside the house, they suspected something amiss and broke open the lock,” the officer said.

They found the girl unconsciou­s and injured inside. She was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was declared dead on arrival.

The officer said a murder case has been registered and teams have been formed to catch Laik.

The case figured prominentl­y on social media platforms all through Saturday since the victim and the accused belonged to different religions. However, DCP Mishra said religion had nothing to do with the murder.

“The murder had absolutely no communal angle to it,” said Mishra.

He said the police have spoken to the girl’s parents who, too, denied that there was a communal angle. “While there is no tension, we are keeping a watch in the area,” the officer said.

Last week in Mangolpuri, the death of a 25-year-old man who was stabbed to death by a group of men took a communal turn after his affiliatio­n with some Hindu outfits came to light. Many political leaders visited the house of the deceased as Delhi Police increased security in the area and transferre­d the case to the crime branch.

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