delhi

Updated: Jun 22, 2018 23:56 IST

An 18-year-old woman was stabbed multiple times in a Greater Noida shopping plaza by an alleged stalker, who later tried to kill himself .

The victim, Khushboo, later succumbed to her injuries . She was assaulted by the accused, 25-year-old Kuldeep, inside a shopping plaza, where she also works, in Greater Noida’s Jagat Farm market around 11.30am. There is a police outpost 100 metres from the incident spot.

“Kuldeep arrived in front of the shop and asked the woman to talk to him. Khushboo headed towards the first floor of AK plaza along with the accused. The CCTV footage shows that Khushboo tried to free her hand from Kuldeep’s grasp and head towards the washroom. Kuldeep then attacked her with a knife and later stabbed himself,” said Shalendra Pratap Singh, station house officer of the Kasna Police station.

“When he attacked the woman, she started screaming for help and we came out of from our shops. Kuldeep then started running towards the ground floor to escape. We tried to stop him but he threatened everybody with the knife. Meanwhile, police were informed and in the next 5-10 minutes, two officers arrived at the plaza. After seeing the cops, Kuldeep went back to the spot where the girl was lying and stabbed himself,” said Surendra Kumar, who works at a shop in AK Plaza.

Police later rushed both Khushboo and Kuldeep to nearby Kailash Hospital in an auto-rickshaw where the woman succumbed to her injuries at 7.30 pm. Kuldeep is said to be stable but not out of danger.

“We had admitted both the patients to ICU. Later, Khushboo succumbed to her injuries,” said Sanil Kapoor, a spokesperson for Kailash Hospital.

According to Khushboo’s relatives, Kuldeep had been stalking her for the past two to three months and she had even complained about it to his parents. A native of Muradabad, Khushboo stays with her parents, four sisters and a brother in Nadarganj mohalla in Dadri.

“Three months ago, Khushboo had told us that a guy was stalking her on a motorcycle from Dadri to her workplace in Jagat Farm market. We then arranged an auto-rickshaw for her to go to work as she used to travel in shared autos. But the stalking and harassment did not stop and Khushboo complained to us again. We then went to Kuldeep’s house in Gautampuri in Dadri and warned his parents that we will file a police complaint if he continued,” said Khushboo’s mother Anita Devi.

“Khushboo was not directly employed by us but she was working in our shop for the past three months for promoting some products. We had no idea that a guy was stalking her ,” said Rajeshwar Dayal, owner of Buggon Supermarket.

Police have booked Kuldeep for murder. “We have lodged a complaint under section 302 against him. We have come to know that the accused used to harass her through phone calls,” said Aashish Shrivastava, superintendent of police (rural).