2 girls get 40 stitches after knife attack outside school

Though police maintain that the victims—Ridhika Bhasin (17) and Tanvi Manchanda (16), both Class XII Commerce students—suffered minor injuries, the families of the two girls refute that and say one girl needed 40 stitches and the other 35.

Two teenagers were slashed with a blade and robbed outside their school in New Delhi on Tuesday.

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Though police maintain that the victims—Ridhika Bhasin (17) and Tanvi Manchanda (16), both Class XII Commerce students—suffered minor injuries, the families of the two girls refute that and say one girl needed 40 stitches and the other 35.

The school, Carmel Convent School, is located at Chanakyapuri’s Malcha Marg, a high profile diplomatic enclave, home to foreign missions, ministers and bureaucrats. The area is “one of the most guarded” zones in the city.

Street crime, experts say, is a sure sign of lawlessness and in Delhi at least two such cases are registered daily.

However, many go unreported as police refuse to register FIRs.

“Tuesday’s incident took place near the school around 11:20 am when the two had gone to get some notes photocopied,” said a senior police officer.

“The girls had gone to a nearby market to get some photocopies. The usual shop was closed. A passerby directed them to another shop,” he said.

However, the girls were attacked even before they could reach the shop.

“They were near the shop when a shabbily-dressed man approached them from behind, brandished a blade and told them to hand over their valuable,” said Nisha Bhasin, Ridhika’s mother.

When a startled Ridhika couldn’t remove her earrings immediately, the assailant got annoyed and started slashing both her and Tanvi. Immediately after that he ran away.

Six hours after she and her friend were attacked outside their school, Ridhika was still visibly depressed.

“She’s under tremendous strain,” her mother said. “It’s not just the pain, but also the fact that she has to go back to the same place tomorrow.”

Sister Nirmalini, principal, Carmel Convent School, said, “Chanakyapuri is like a VVIP zone. I’ve never felt the need for a PCR outside my school. The police will have to answer a lot of questions now.”

“We have registered a case at the Chanakyapuri police station and are hunting for the assailant,” said Shankar Dash, additional CP (New Delhi).