Woman shot dead while trying to break up students’ fight

Sarika Shrivastava was shot dead outside her house during an altercation between some students, in Lucknow’s Sairpur area on Saturday night, police said.

Asking a group of youngsters to stop fighting cost a 43-year-old woman her life.

Woman shot dead while trying to break up students’ fight

Sarika Shrivastava was shot dead outside her house during an altercation between some students, in Lucknow’s Sairpur area on Saturday night, police said.

“Sarika Shrivastava lived with her husband in Brijdham Colony. The couple’s house is located near Anita Nayak Hostel. As many as eight inmates of the hostel have been taken into custody and are being questioned,” said Lucknow police in a statement.

According to police, the woman and her husband were on the roof of their house when they saw a group of young men from the hostel fighting. She first asked them to not shout. As the fight escalated, she went to the men to make them stop shouting.

Locals said Sarita forbade the students from making noises, but the students did not listen. The woman got angry and threatened that she would call police. On hearing this, one of the students took out a gun and shot the woman in the chest.

“Police reached the spot and took the woman to KGMU, where she was declared dead by doctors. The body has been sent for postmortem,” said Manoj Kori, the SHO of Sairpur police station.

The woman’s husband, who works as an area sales manager with a pharma company, said, “Anita Nayak Hostel is right in front of my house. Students from the hostel often engage in fights. I complained this to the hostel owner seven months ago and suggested that the building be rented out to a family, but he did not listen.”

The man said his wife told the students that she would call the police. While the students grew silent for a while, one of them took out a gun and shot his wife in the chest, he told media persons.

The couple had been residing in the colony for 20 years. One of her three children, Aditya, a Class 12 student, said, “Non-residents also go inside the hostel, and make noises till late at night.”

Police said the main accused was still absconding even as others had been taken into custody for questioning. Police said they would also question the building owner. There are no CCTV cameras installed in the hostel. Footage of cameras near the house were being examined, they added

Pic cap: Sarika Srivastava, who was shot to death in front of her house in Lucknow’s Sairpur on Saturday night (sourced)