A 22-year-old third-year student of Panjab University (PU) was allegedly stabbed to death by a 28-year-old man in Fragrance Garden, Sector 36, on Sunday night after she reportedly turned down his marriage proposal. The accused was arrested from the inter-state bus terminus (ISBT) in Sector 43 on Monday afternoon while allegedly trying to flee the city.
The accused has been identified as Vinay Kumar, a native of Bihar who had been living on rent in Burail. He had earlier worked at a sweet shop in Sector 35 and had recently been unemployed.
According to investigators, the victim, Suhani, had known the accused for about a year. He allegedly wanted to marry her, but she had distanced herself due to caste differences. Besides, her marriage had also been recently solemnised with a resident of Sector 56. Her family alleged that Vinay had been harassing her ever since they turned down his marriage proposal.
On Sunday evening, Vinay allegedly called Suhani to Fragrance Garden to talk. She told her parents she was going to the market to buy chocolates for a dinner party that her family was hosting for her would-be husband. After helping her mother prepare dinner, she left home on her Activa around 7 pm. She then met Vinay at the garden, where he allegedly stabbed her on the neck with a knife and fled the spot.
Her mother, Anita, said she began calling her daughter when she did not return home. On the fourth attempt, Suhani allegedly answered and told her that Vinay had stabbed her at a park in Sector 36 and asked for help. Around 8.30 pm, a passerby spotted her lying in a pool of blood and informed the police.
She was rushed to Government Multi Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, for treatment where she breathed her last.
A murder case has been registered at the Sector 36 police station. The accused will be produced in court on Tuesday. Police have recovered the knife used in the crime and the blood-stained clothes from the spot.
Promising life cut short
As per family members, Suhani was a hardworking and ambitious woman who balanced studies, job and her UPSC aspirations all at once. She was pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) degree through the Centre for Distance and Online Education (CDOE) at PU. She also worked at a clinic in Sector 22 to fund her education and support her family, and was simultaneously preparing for the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination, her parents said. Her father, Mahesh Kumar, works as a dhobi in Sector 35. The family hails from Uttar Pradesh.
Eerie reminder of 2024 park immolation incident
The incident comes as an eerie reminder of the 2024 incident when a 26-year-old man had allegedly set his girlfriend ablaze in a park near the Sector 35 petrol pump following a tiff over marriage. In another incident that sent shockwaves across the city, a 30-year-old woman’s body was found with her throat slit, at the Rose Garden in Sector 16, in November last year, though police had claimed it appeared to be a case of suicide.
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