On Thursday afternoon, a 16-year-old girl was allegedly shot at by her stalker near her home in Sangam Vihar, South Delhi. The girl is presently being treated in a private hospital’s intensive care unit. The accused has been identified as Ali, who had concealed his religious identity to initiate a conversation with the victim girl initially.
According to the reports, the victim girl and the accused knew each other for some time but the girl had stopped talking to him after she learned that the boy was ‘from another community’. The boy then began to stalk the girl. The incident is said to have happened when the girl studying in class XI was walking back home from her school.
The school in which the girl studies is at a distance of 2 km from her residence. The girl’s father said he received a call about the shooting from his wife at 2:17 pm when he was at work in Mahipalpur. “We live in a joint family. Usually, someone drops my children and nieces to school in the morning and in the afternoon my wife or sister-in-law picks them up. My wife and son and one of my nieces were walking ahead, while my daughter and second niece were behind them. When they reached near B-Block, the accused fired at her and fled,” the father of the girl confirmed.
He added that a young boy from their area had been following the girl. “He sent several messages to my daughter but she never responded. I didn’t take it seriously either as the boy was local. Later he began to stalk her whenever she stepped out”, he stated.
The father further said that he informed the beat cop about the stalking incident in July who had assured him that he would scold the boy and look after the girl’s safety. “I don’t know if anything happened then”, he said. After the incident on Thursday, the police immediately reached the spot and took the injured victim girl to the Batra Hospital.
According to the reports, the accused was with his friends when he shot the 16-year-old girl. They were on bikes and wearing helmets and had also covered their faces with handkerchiefs. The accused knew that the school of the girl might end at 1:40 pm and that she would reach Block-B by 2:15 pm. DCP (South) Benita Jaiker meanwhile said that the PCR got a call about the shooting at around 3:47 pm.
The Police have registered a complaint in the case and have recovered the CCTV footage of the school for further investigation. The Police also recorded the statement of the girl in which she confirmed that she knew one of the accused through social media. She also said that they were three people following her and all of them were masked. “One of them shot a bullet at me from behind and then they all fled from the spot”, she added.
A case under Sections 307 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been filed against the accused individuals, and an investigation is ongoing. The police are also exploring any personal enmity of love angle in the incident and are taking all the efforts to nab the accused.
