- A Chennai student was stabbed to death outside her college in KK Nagar.
- M Aswini was a first-year B.Com student.
- She was walking to the bus stop when the stalker attacked her with a dagger.
- The stalker asked the girl to set his petrol-soaked body ablaze.
A student was stabbed to death outside her college in KK Nagar in south Chennai Friday, March 9, afternoon. Before killing her, the stalker asked the girl to set his petrol-soaked body ablaze.
M Aswini, a first-year B.Com student at the Meenakshi Academy of Higher Education and Research, was walking to the bus stop in the afternoon with some of her friends, when the stalker, Alagesan, attacked her with a dagger, reported the Hindustan Times.
The 26-year-old stalker not only stabbed the girl but also slit her throat. He was then caught by passersby and thrashed before being handed over to the police. He has now been sent to the Puzhal Central Prison.
The 19-year-old girl was on the way to the bus stop when Alagesan stopped her and handed her a lighter. When she threw it and tried to walk away, he held her and tried to kill himself with a knife. But he instead stabbed her and slit her throat as she fell to the ground.
While her friends rushed her to the hospital in a two-wheeler, Aswini was declared dead on arrival.
The police are now investigating the case and said that Alagesan, who worked with a packaged water supply agency, wanted to marry Aswini. On February 14, he had entered Aswini's home and forcibly tied a 'thali' (mangalsutra) around her neck, saying she was now his wife, reported the Times of India.
The family had filed a complaint after the February incident and Alagesan had said that he would stay away from Aswini, but he continued to follow her.
The stalker has also given his statement to the police and speaking of the earlier incident, he said that as soon as he "married" Aswini, her mother told her to take off the thali and give it back to him. Alagesan said that by seeing her again, he was just trying to "patch up."
Meanwhile, Alagesan's sister Paripooranam said that the two were, in fact, in love. "She was ready to marry my brother, but stepped back as her family members refused to accept the proposal," TOI quoted Paripooranam as saying.
The incident brings back memories of the 2016 case when Infosys employee S Swathi was murdered by her stalker in broad daylight at the Nungambakkam railway station.
The 24-year-old was on the way to work when an assailant, suspected to be Ramkumar, hacked her to death in the busy station. There were several commuters at the time of the murder, but no one came to Swathi's rescue. Swathi's body lay unattended at the station until the police arrived, while the attacker managed to flee.
Several instances of stalking have been reported in the past as well and Sudha Ramalingam, a human rights activist and Madras High Court advocate, had said that men continue to view women as "objects of desire and not as human beings with feelings."
"A man it seems can never expect and accept that a woman has the right to choose her man, she added. They are unable to take the rejection and destroy what cannot be theirs," HT quoted her as saying.
