Woman stabbed several times by neighbour, battling for life

A 30-year-old woman is battling for life after she was stabbed multiple times inside her Tilak Nagar flat by a neighbour who was stalking her, police officers aware of the case said, adding that the accused, 36, has been arrested.
The woman’s husband has alleged that the accused attempted to rape his wife before stabbing her 25 times. However, officers did not confirm the number of stab injuries the woman has suffered, and said that they will add Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections related to sexual assault if the woman, once she recovers, corroborates her husband’s version of the attack.

Police said the incident occurred in Tilak Nagar on Monday morning.
“We received information at 11.30am on Monday from a hospital regarding a stabbing in Tilak Nagar. When police reached the hospital, they were informed that a woman was stabbed by a man multiple times. She was operated on Monday evening and is under observation,” deputy commissioner of police (west) Vichitra Veer said.
The woman is currently admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the hospital and is in critical condition, police said.
The woman briefly gained consciousness and gave a statement to police, Veer said, based on which a case on charges of attempt to murder was registered and the investigation was taken up.
Her husband said the accused also tried to sexually assault her. The DCP, however, said that the woman did not mention sexual assault in her initial statement, but they will add the relevant BNS sections if the woman gives a statement again.
Police said a preliminary probe revealed that the woman and her family had moved to the Tilak Nagar neighbourhood around two years ago.
“The accused and the victim had formal interactions occasionally, as they lived in the same neighbourhood. The victim, however, felt uncomfortable during these interactions and started avoiding him,” Veer said.
The woman’s husband said the 36-year-old had been “troubling” his wife for the past two months, but after requests from the accused’s sister, they did not file a police complaint against him.
“The fact that she did not talk to him irked the accused. On Monday, he entered her house when she was alone at home and attacked her,” the DCP said.
Meanwhile, the woman’s husband told HT that on Monday, he left for work at 10.40am and their two sons were at school when the accused barged into their house and tried to rape his wife.
“When she resisted, he stabbed her with a knife 25 times… My wife ran out of our house, which is on the fourth floor, and managed to reach the ground floor… She called me and said that she was going to die… The phone got disconnected. I dialled again and someone picked up the phone, telling me to come to the hospital,” he said.