A 16-year-old girl was brutally murdered in Delhi on Sunday apparently by her 20-year-old lover, according to police this morning.
The accused - identified as Sahil by the cops - is absconding but Delhi Police has formed teams to arrest him, Deputy Commissioner of Police Suman Nalwa said.
Pushed for more details, Nalwa refused to comment further on an active investigation and stressed police hope to arrest the accused as soon as possible, reports Indian media.
Authorities said the girl had planned to attend a friend`s son`s birthday party when the accused intercepted and stabbed her multiple times in a horrific attack that also involved bludgeoning her with a stone.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Raja Banthia told news agency ANI: "The girl was brought dead and a post-mortem is being conducted. There were several injuries on her body. She was stabbed more than 20 times."
"Accused (Sahil) is 20 years old. Six teams have been formed to arrest (him)… his parents are cooperating (he) will be arrested soon," Banthia was quoted.
The horrific attack was caught on CCTV and footage has been shared online. The video - which this media has seen and chosen not to publish - shows the young girl pinned to a wall and stabbed several times by a young male. The murder takes place in view of people passing within inches of the attacker.
No one stops or says anything as the young girl`s body crumples to the road and the attacker continues his assault, which lasts for nearly 90 seconds and includes him kicking her body.
At the end of the stabbing, kicking and bludgeoning the young male walks away.
The murder took place within the limits of the Shahbad Dairy Police Station in Delhi and the body of the girl - a resident of the area`s JJ Colony - was found lying on the streets. The number of stab wounds and other medical details will be ascertained after a post-mortem of the body, police have said.
According to news agency PTI the accused and the victim fought on Saturday.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and members of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party hit out at Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena over the murder.
Kejriwal tweeted: "A minor girl is brutally murdered openly in Delhi. This is very sad and unfortunate. The criminals have become fearless, there is no fear of the police. LG sir, law and order is your responsibility, do something. Safety of people of Delhi is paramount..."
The AAP leaders` tweets come amid a festering war of words between the AAP and the Bharatiya Janata Party, the latter of which controls law and order in the national capital since Delhi Police reports to union home minister Amit Shah.
Delhi Commission for Women chairperson Swati Maliwal said the city `has become extremely unsafe for women and girls` and called on the centre to summon a high-level meeting between Shah, Saxena, Kejriwal and herself.
"16-year-old girl was stabbed 40-50 times and then was hit by a stone multiple times after which she died. All this has been captured on CCTV. Several people saw this but did not pay heed. Delhi has become extremely unsafe for women and girls. I appeal to the central govt to call a high-level meeting with union home minister, Delhi LG, DCW chief and Delhi CM," she said.
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