The purported boyfriend of the Malad teen allegedly killed by her father over her affair,has said that he knew the victim only casually. We did not have an affair, the 17-year-old,now under detention,told Newsline. She (the victim) was not my girlfriend. I just knew her casually. She used to mingle with our group when we stood at the streetcorner in the evenings, said the boy. He said he had arrived in Mumbai from Delhi a month ago and was staying with a friend opposite the 14-year-old victims home. He worked with a catering company but did not earn enough,he said. On Wednesday three days before the girls alleged murder he had got a call from Delhi saying his mother had met with an accident and was in hospital,the boy said. I needed Rs 5,000 for travelling and for medicines for my mother. A day before the incident (Friday),my friend sold his mobile phone and gave me Rs 2,000. But this was not enough. On Saturday,I was tense and was talking to my friend when she (the victim) returned from school. She gestured to me to come to her house. She told me that she could give me Rs 3,000. So I went in. But within minutes,we saw her elder sister approaching, he said. The victims two sisters,who are 15 and 18,have been arrested along with their father,a 45-year-old shopkeeper named Agyaram Jaiswal. The father has told police that he was fed up of constant complaints about his youngest daughters affair with the boy,and had strangled her with a leather belt in a fit of rage. According to the boy,the victim told him to run,saying her sisters would kill him if they found him. I was scared and fled. I could hear screams and abuses,and I assumed that she was being beaten up by her sisters. Neighbours saw the boy leaving,and assuming he was a thief,nabbed him. He was later handed over to police. Officers investigating the case said they had detained the boy for enquiries,but had not arrested him. Till now,the boy does not seem to be involved in the murder. The father has confessed. The deceased had nail marks on her cheeks. The two elder sisters have said that they beat their younger sister after they spotted the boy in the house, A Shaikh,senior inspector of Malwani police station,said.
