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A 25-year-old woman was killed by a stalker who slit her throat and stabbed her repeatedly eight days before her wedding, said the police.

The accused, Venkatesh Goud is a 25-year-old man from Vemulawada in Siricilla district who had been stalking Nyalakanti Divya since she was in Class 8.

Gajwel sub-inspector of police B Kamalakar told Hindustan Times, "The incident happened at around 6.30 pm after Divya returned from her duties in the bank and was alone in the house."

Kamalakar added, "Venkatesh suddenly appeared from nowhere, attacked her, stabbed her several times and slit her throat, before disappearing in the darkness. She died on the spot."

According to Kamalakar, preliminary inquiries with Venkatesh's relatives suggested that the two had married each other in a temple in Hyderabad in 2014 and were together for a few days.

However, Divya's parents did not approve of the marriage as they belonged to different castes and took her back to their village.

He also added that he hasn't found any evidence of their marriage and even if the marriage was performed, it would not be valid because Venkatesh was only 20 years old.

Venkatesh did not react for a couple of years but then he started stalking Divya later. All this while, he remained unemployed while the victim completed her graduation and got a job in the bank.

“Since then, Venkatesh had been harassing her and warning her against marrying another person. When her parents went to their native village on Tuesday, he resorted to the brutal murder,” the SI said.

A case has been registered under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. Goud surrendered before Vemulawada police on Wednesday night and was brought to Gajwel, where he is being questioned.

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