Stalker stabs woman in taxi at Delhi’s Lado Sarai

The accused, identified as Gaurav Pal, is a resident of Dundahera in Ghaziabad. He was overpowered by the cab driver before he could flee

A 23-year-old woman suffered multiple injuries after a 27-year-old man, who had allegedly been stalking her for seven to eight months, stabbed her over a dozen times inside a cab in south Delhi’s Lado Sarai, on Thursday morning.

An FIR under section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC has been filed at the Saket police station. (Representational image)

The accused, identified as Gaurav Pal, is a resident of Dundahera in Ghaziabad. According to the police, the accused was overpowered by the cab driver before he could flee, and was handed over to the police.

The woman’s family alleged that Pal had been threatening to kill her if she refused to marry him for a few months.

An FIR under section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC has been filed at the Saket police station. Deputy commissioner of police (south) Chandan Chowdhary said, “Saket police station received a call at 6.20 am from Lado Sarai Firni Road, and the caller informed that a woman had been stabbed by a man with a knife and that she was injured.”

Chowdhary said that the woman and the accused were in a relationship for over two years. “She was ignoring him these days. So, he came in the morning and met her in Lado Sarai. While she was going towards a cab she had booked, the two were talking with each other. She sat in the cab, and at that time, he attacked her with a knife,” said the DCP. Police said that Pal works in a private company in Gurugram.

The woman’s family said that the stabbing took place barely a five-minute walk away from their home in Lado Sarai. “She was stabbed 15-16 times in her head, face, neck, abdomen and other parts of the body,” said the woman’s uncle.

In a 24-second-long video, doing the rounds of social media, the woman can be seen on the rear seat of the cab – covered in blood, writhing in pain, and asking to be taken to a hospital. In the same video, the accused, in a blood-stained shirt, can be seen being held by a man, assumed to be the cab driver.

Victim was going for job interview

The woman was on her way to Bhikaji Cama Place for a job interview on Thursday morning when the incident took place. She lives in Lado Sarai with her mother – who works as a cook in Saket – and four siblings.

The woman’s family alleged that they had reported Pal to the police at least three-four times, as he had been stalking her and threatening to kill her if she refused to marry him.

The woman’s mother alleged that on September 10 and September 27, Pal reached her home and assaulted her daughter.

“On September 27, Pal reached our home when I was out for work. He grabbed my daughter’s neck, and threatened to kill her if she did not marry him. My daughter suffered bruises around her neck. We went to the Saket police station and reported the matter, but the police did not take any action against him,” the mother said.

DCP Chowdhary said that on September 10, the police had received a call regarding harassment by a man outside the victim’s house in Lado Sarai.

“When police personnel reached there, the matter was found to be between the woman and Pal over borrowed money. The caller did not want any action on that day, so the call was filed,” said the DCP.

However, the DCP said that no incident was reported to the police regarding September 27.

The woman is at the AIIMS Trauma Centre, and her condition is critical, said the family. “The bleeding has not stopped despite her undergoing surgery,” said the victim’s mother.

This is the second incident of a woman being stabbed by an alleged stalker in the city in less than a fortnight. On September 30, a 47-year-old woman was seriously injured after she was stabbed multiple times, allegedly by her stalker at her clinic in west Delhi’s Tagore Garden. The accused is still absconding.