Delhi girl’s murder on camera: Sahil purchased knife from Haridwar, say police

Sahil, the 20-year-old AC mechanic who allegedly stabbed a 16-year-old girl to death in outer Delhi’s Shahbad Dairy on Sunday, purchased the knife used in the murder from Haridwar on Friday, said the Delhi Police that is interrogating him.

Police continue to question Sahil about the circumstances in which he purchased the knife, and whether he bought it with the sole purpose of killing the girl.

Police are yet to recover the knife allegedly used in killing her.

Sahil was arrested from Bulandshahr — his native place — on Monday, about 18 hours after the murder that was caught on camera.

He was brought from Bulandshahr overnight and produced before a court in Delhi on Tuesday, following which he was sent to two days in police custody, said a senior police officer.

Police said that the girl was breaking up her relationship with him which left him infuriated. The trigger for the killing was an argument between them on Thursday, said police.

“On Thursday, she allegedly insulted him in front of one of his friends. That triggered him to plan the murder,” said a senior police investigator, refusing to be identified. Police said that they would have to verify his claims, and were taking them with a pinch of salt.

To be sure, a confession or disclosure statement of any person made before a police officer is not admissible as evidence before a court unless it is backed by other evidence. Only a confession before a judge is admissible as evidence against an accused.

The girl was on the way to the birthday party of the son of her woman friend on Sunday evening when Sahil allegedly waylaid her and stabbed her to death in full public view, while over a dozen people merely watched from close quarters without intervening. A CCTV camera caught Sahil stabbing the girl 16 times, repeatedly smashing her head with a brick and kicking and stomping her.

Local residents said they were terrified of the assault to gather the courage to take on Sahil, and the notoriety of the neighbourhood in terms of alleged street crimes made them keep away.

Police said that the first call to them was made a good 25 minutes after the murder happened, as the girl lay dead in the street, half of her body in the drain.

The girl’s family lives a few hundred metres from the murder spot. The victim, however, would stay at the homes of her friends for several days at a stretch.

Her mother on Monday demanded death penalty for Sahil, who lived with his family about three kilometres away from the victim’s home.