Teen saves mother from being stabbed to death by stepfather in Delhi

New Delhi: A 15-year-old girl saved her mother from being stabbed to death by her stepfather at their residence in south east Delhi’s Govindpuri on Sunday, police said, adding they are yet to arrest the man, who is on the run

New Delhi: A 15-year-old girl saved her mother from being stabbed to death by her stepfather at their residence in south east Delhi’s Govindpuri on Sunday, police said, adding they are yet to arrest the man, who is on the run.

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Deputy commissioner of police (southeast) Esha Pandey identified the woman as Saraswati Barman, whose husband Gajan Barman attacked her with a knife, but she was saved by her daughter, a student of Class 10.

DCP Pandey said that Saraswati herself called the police in the early hours of Sunday to inform them that her husband had stabbed her. When police reached the spot in Tughlakabad village’s Valmiki Mohalla, they saw an injured Saraswati bleeding profusely and rushed her to AIIMS Trauma Centre for treatment.

“The woman is being treated. Doctors say she is out of danger but are monitoring her condition,” the officer said.

During the probe, Saraswati’s older daughter told police that she, her mother, Gajan, a driver and her mother’s second husband, and her 3-year-old sister live in the same house. She said Gajan often ill-treated her because she was his stepdaughter and behaved inappropriately with her. She had complained of his behaviour to her mother, leading to several fights between Saraswati and Gajan. She told police that the couple had been quarrelling for the last three-four days as well.

On Saturday night, while they all slept in the same room, she said she suddenly heard her mother scream and woke up.

“She saw her stepfather attacking her mother with a knife. He had already stabbed her a few times. She pushed him and he tried to attack again, but the girl said she managed to overpower him after punching him a few times,” said a senior police officer privy to the probe, adding that if the girl hadn’t intervened timely, he may have succeeded in killing the woman.

Gajan then fled and she helped her mother call the police control room.

DCP Pandey said that based on the girl’s statement , a case under Section 307 (Punishment for attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against Gajan.

“We have formed teams to trace the perpetrator,” the officer said.