Lado Sarai stabbing: ‘Victim complained against accused in office, had started WFH as stalking grew’

But on Thursday, as she stepped out to appear for a job interview, Pal, 27, again waylaid her and stabbed her over a dozen times, while she was boarding a taxi in Lado Sarai, inflicting critical injuries on her head, face, neck and thighs. According to Malik’s family, they had approached the police at least four times to complain about Pal. The police, however, deny the claim.

Speaking to The Indian Express, the victim, who was operated upon after sustaining a cut below the jaw which tore her artery, said, “I am in a lot of pain right now…the doctors have carried out a surgery…I hope to recover soon…”

Contrary to police’s claim, Malik denied that Pal was her ex-boyfriend. “I was never in a relationship with him and always avoided meeting him. But, he kept persisting and troubling me,” she said.

“…I complained against him at the company where we worked together and he got fired thereafter,” she said. The police, however, insisted that the IPC section pertaining to stalking had not been invoked since as per investigation so far, it has come to the fore that the accused and the woman were in a relationship. Though the victim wanted to end the relationship, Pal, who works at a private firm in Ghaziabad, insisted on continuing it, the police said. Police insisted that they had not found any written complaints by the victim at both the police stations which the family claimed to have approached.

DCP (South) Chandan Choudhary said that they received a PCR call on September 10 in which the woman informed them about a man who was standing in front of her house and harassing her.

After a team rushed to the spot, inquiry revealed that Pal was arguing with her over some borrowed money. “We did not take any action against Pal because the woman refused to lodge a case or take any action against him. She introduced him as her fiancee…,” added the DCP.

The woman’s mother Shakuntala, a domestic help, alleged that Pal had been troubling her daughter ever since she stopped talking to him after he harassed her at their office. “I kept asking her what was wrong as she initially hid it from me…she later confided that she was being troubled by Pal…she had taken up work from home permanently as she was scared to go out thinking he was tracking her activities and would suddenly show up,” she claimed. “Before shifting to Lado Sarai, we lived in Saidulajab where we approached the Mehrauli police station twice to complain about Pal following and troubling my daughter, and trying to barge into our house besides accosting her whenever she used to go to office…however, those complaints were not looked into and converted into FIRs,” she alleged.

She further said that after they moved to Lado Sarai, they lodged an online complaint against Pal, first on September 10 and then on September 27, at the Saket Police Station. However, no action was taken, alleged the family.

According to the mother, her daughter’s phone, which has online copies of the complaints filed by her, has been seized by police as case material. Officers said that the phone is yet to be unlocked, following which its contents will be analysed.

The victim’s uncle said she had recently given the Delhi Police’s constabulary exam and was simultaneously pursuing an open college BA Programme degree from Delhi University.

“She is the eldest in a family of five siblings…,” he said. “She told us that Pal even threatened to kill her if she survived the stabbing,” he alleged.