Shahbad Dairy locals surrounded teen’s body: Cop who first arrived at scene

A 16-year-old girl was murdered in Delhi's Shahbad Dairy neighbourhood, and local residents did not intervene as the killer stabbed the victim multiple times and crushed her skull with a stone slab. The beat constable was informed about the murder and reached the location 17 minutes later, after which he informed his superiors. CCTV footage showed that local residents watched the assault from a distance before locking themselves inside their homes, and the victim's mother refused to visit the crime scene. The police are investigating the reason why the parents did not visit the site.

When the beat constable of Shahbad Dairy’s E-block was informed about a murder in his neighbourhood on Sunday evening, he was just a few hundred metres away from the crime spot. When he reached the location, it was 17 minutes since a 16-year-old girl had been lying dead on a narrow street.

People gathered outside the residence of of the 16-year-old girl who was allegedly stabbed to death by a man on Sunday at Shahbad Dairy, in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT)

“The girl’s body lay amid a crowd of local residents and curious onlookers. Half of her body was inside the street drain, and the rest of it was on the road. There were just too many injuries on her body for her to have survived the attack,” said the constable, asking not to be named.

The constable immediately informed his superiors, including the local Station House Officer (SHO) and the Assistant Commissioner of Police of the area. “Within minutes, they reached there. Meanwhile, some locals identified the deceased. To confirm it, we approached to the parents of the victim, who came with us, albeit with some unwillingness. They identified the dead girl as their daughter,” the constable said.

Local residents and passersby did not intervene as Sahil, the killer, stabbed the 16-year-old victim at least times, and then crushed her skull with a stone slab. “None of them even called the police control room (PCR). It was due to the personal contacts of the beat constable that a local resident informed him about the murder,” said Dependra Pathak, special commissioner of Delhi Police (law and order).

The officer said that the murder took place at 8.48pm, and the beat constable had reached the spot at 9.05pm.

Before the beat policeman arrived at the scene, CCTV footage showed, local residents watched the murderous assault from a distance. “Some residents locked themselves inside their homes. One resident seemed to have attempted to briefly challenge the killer, but back off at the slightest hint of threat from Sahil,” said an investigator.

Once the alleged killer fled, it was the victim’s friend – at whose home the victim was staying on the day of the crime – who heard the commotion and ran out to find the victim lying dead, said the police. “On realising that the girl was already dead, the friend rushed to inform the victim’s parents who live close by. But the girl’s mother refused to visit the site,” said the investigator.

The girl’s mother, however, said that she was never “too angry” with her daughter who would end telephonic conversations with her sweetly. “I have a right to be angry with her for staying away,” the mother said on Sunday.

“We are also trying to find out the reason why the girl’s parents didn’t visit the murder spot on being informed of the crime by Bhawna,” said Ravi Kumar Singh, deputy commissioner of police (outer-north).

When senior officers arrived at the scene, they found some friends of the victim near her body. “They identified her for us, and told us where her parents lived. So, we sent some policemen to fetch them. It was then that the girl’s parents arrived at the scene,” said a second investigator. In the following minutes, the police checked the CCTV footage to find visuals of a suspect, that matched the description of Sahil, sending the police on his chase.

“It was the girl’s parents who told us that a man named Sahil could be involved in the murder,” said the second officer.

Dev Singh, a local resident, said that when he reached the spot some 40-45 minutes after the crime, he many senior police officers at the spot. “The police had placed bricks around the body to mark the spot,” said Singh.

While the public was kept at bay by the local police, the girl’s friends and parents stood around. “No one was crying. Everyone seemed to be in shock by the brutality,” said Singh.