(Some names have been changed to protect the victim's identity.)
"It is not a Hindu-Muslim issue, people are making these things up…" said Ramesh (name changed), father of the minor girl who was stabbed to death, allegedly by a 20-year-old man, named Sahil, in outer north Delhi's Shahbad Dairy area on Sunday, 28 May.
On Tuesday, two days since he lost his daughter, grief shrouded Ramesh's modest, one-room house in Shahbad Dairy as politicians, relatives, and neighbours showed up at his door. At home was his 12-year-old son and his wife, who did not come out to speak to anyone.
At around 8:30 pm on Sunday, a 65-second purported video captured on CCTV showed the accused stabbing the girl multiple times and then bludgeoning her with a rock. In the video several bystanders were seen watching as the accused stabbed the girl.
A day after the incident, an FIR against the accused was registered at the Shahbad Dairy Police Station under section 302 (punishment for murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
On the same day, the accused, a mechanic, was arrested from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh.
After Sahil's arrest, Delhi Police Special CP Dependra Pathak said that this was a 'crime of passion'.
"As per preliminary information, they (the accused and the victim) knew each other. There was some quarrel after which they parted ways. The accused had a grudge because of which he did this kind of gruesome murder. It's a crime of passion. Further probe is being done," Special CP Pathak said.
At his home, Ramesh remembered his last conversation with his daughter.
"The day of the murder, I spoke to her at 1:30 pm. She said, 'Papa have you eaten?' I said yes, I have. I asked if she would come home that night. She said she won't because it was her friend's child's birthday. She had gone to the market to buy cake," he said.
The Quint spoke to the victim's family and neighbours about her dreams, aspirations, and concerns over women safety in the area.
'Just Cleared Class 10 Exams, Wanted to be a Lawyer'
The 16-year-old girl had just cleared her class 10 board exams. A relative who stays in the house next to hers said that she was a bright student and had scored good marks.
"She had just completed her class 10 CBSE exams... I don't know how much she got but she scored good marks."Victim's relative
Her father told The Quint that she wanted to be a lawyer.
"She told me 'I've passed class 10'. I asked what she wants to do next? She said she wants to become a lawyer. I said 'theek hai beta' if that's what you want, I will support you."
He added, "My wife and I work as daily wagers. My daughter would help take care of the house; she would teach tuitions during her free time…"
'Want Death Penalty For Accused': Victim's Father
The victim's father said that he wants death penalty for the accused.
"First, I want the accused to be given death penalty. Second, I request the government to help us… because my daughter used to manage the household," he told The Quint.
As the purported CCTV video went viral, Ramesh said he has not seen the visuals yet. "I wanted to see the video but people told me I won't be able to," he said.
Referring to the fact that bystanders did not help his daughter, he added, "If people wanted to help, my daughter would not have died."
On 30 May, one day after the incident, DCP (outer north) Ravi Kumar Singh said that the bystanders did not make a PCR call for around 25-30 minutes even as the girls' body lay at the spot.
"At around 9.35 pm, a police informer informed the staff regarding the murder of a girl and asked them to come immediately. The time stamp on the CCTV footage of the incident, however, shows that the incident happened at 8.45 pm," DCP Singh said.
'Was Always Smiling, Took Care of Younger Brother, Household'
The girl's relative told The Quint,
"She was always smiling and laughing, and she was a good sister. She would take care of her younger brother, get him ready for school, and feed him too."
Another neighbour, who had seen the victim grow up, broke down as she recalled the girl's visits to their home. She said,
"She would often visit my place - to play with my kids, dance, sing with them, and to sometimes eat with us too."
The girl's father claimed that she had been staying with her friend for the past 10 days, whose children she also tutored.
While he told The Quint that he had never heard of Sahil or seen him around his house, in the FIR, a copy of which The Quint saw, the father mentioned that he had known about Sahil for a year and that he was dissuading his daughter since she was in her "padhne likhne ki umar."
'Area Unsafe for Women': Residents
A woman, who stayed in the same cluster of houses as the minor girl, said,
"There are a lot of goons and people abusing drugs in this area. If we say something, they'll threaten us saying 'goli maar dunga', 'chaku maar dunga'."
Sunil, who works with Saksham NGO in the area, agreed with the neighbour's claims. He told The Quint, "The problem is that this area is notorious for gang wars, drug abuse, substance abuse, and alcoholism. If anyone interferes or complaints, the accused will attack them once out of jail."
Neighbours also said that there is extreme laxity when it comes to women's and children's safety in the area. Mamta, also an NGO worker, said,
"Incidents like this take place every day (in the area), this one just got caught on camera."
AAP Vs BJP
Soon after the incident, a political slugfest broke out between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The former claimed that Delhi is not safe for women and the latter alleged that this is a case of 'Love Jihad' — a conspiracy theory which claims that Muslim men target Hindu women for conversion to Islam by means such as seduction, deception, kidnapping, and marriage.
On Tuesday, BJP leader Hans Raj Hans visited the family and gave them a cheque as monetary assistance.
Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chief Swati Maliwal also met the victim's family. She tweeted,
Meanwhile, the Delhi government too has announced a Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia to the victim's family.
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