Sahil Khan, who stabbed a 16-year-old girl to death in full public view on May 28, showed no remorse during interrogation and told police that he was angered by the indifferent attitude of his teen “girlfriend” towards him, in front of her friends. The 20-year-old AC technician, who was arrested from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, is likely to undergo a psychoanalysis test as per police sources.
Footage captured by CCTV cameras in northwest Delhi’s Shahbad dairy area show that Sahil stabbed Sakshi 22 times and then bashed her head in with a rock. She was found to have 34 injury marks on her body and her skull was smashed.
Sahil told police that he used a knife he had bought from Haridwar 10 t0 15 days ago for his own protection. Police said they were verifying all of his claims during the interrogation as he was frequently changing his statement. He told police that he dumped the knife in Rithala after committing the crime, prompting cops to conduct searches in the area.
According to police, Sahil seemed to be “guilt-free” but nervous at times while confessing to killing Sakshi. Police said a day before the incident, a male friend of Sakshi’s identified as Jhabru, had got into a verbal spat with Sahil and threatened him. The three of them had an argument in which Sakshi said demeaning things to Sahil, police added.
In his statement to the police, which is part of the FIR, Sakshi’s father Janakraj said his daughter knew Sahil and often mentioned his name. “She was friends with him for a year. We tried to make her understand that she was young and should focus on her studies. But whenever we told her to stay away from Sahil, she would get upset and go to her friend’s place,” he said.
Police further said since Sahil bought the knife days before the incident, it was not unlikely he was planning to kill Sakshi. But, police added, he claimed that he killed her in a fit of rage because she was constantly ignoring him. “The statements by him are being verified. Sometimes he says she ignored him which angered him. But he also suspected that Sakshi was getting involved with her former boyfriend,” an officer said.
The officer said Sakshi was in a relationship with Praveen for three to four years before she fell for Sahil. Sahil has claimed that Sakshi was keen to get back with Praveen since he had a motorcycle, police said.
A day before the incident on Saturday, Sakshi warned Sahil to stay away from her. She was with her friend Bhawna and her boyfriend Jhabru at the time. Jhabru, too, threatened to beat Sahil if he came near Sakshi, police said.
She also mentioned the name of her friend Neetu’s husband, a known criminal in the area, to threaten Sahil, they added.
Police also said the girl had broken up with Sahil eight days ago. Sakshi and Sahil had been seeing each other since June 2021 but for the last three to four months, she started moving away from him, they said. On the day of the incident, in the afternoon Sahil got drunk and confronted Sakshi in the evening, who was on her way to the birthday party of her friend’s child. Sahil told police that he had no regrets over killing Sakshi as she refused to mend their relationship and continued to be indifferent towards him.
After killing her, Sahil went to a nearby park and sat there for a while. He walked to Rithala metro station, where he claimed to have thrown the knife in nearby bushes. He then took a bus for Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh from the Anand Vihar ISBT, police said. Sahil was arrested from Bulandshahr after a call from his aunt to his father was traced to the location. He was brought to the national capital late on Monday.
In a report published by NDTV, a team of psychiatrists will ask questions related to family, friends and lifestyle during Sahi’s psychological assessment test. Sources were quoted as saying the test might last for about three hours and will help police understand the mental state of the accused.
Police said Sahil had no previous crime record. They took the accused to the crime scene in the morning to recreate the incident and retrace his steps after the murder.
‘Former boyfriend’ Praveen asked to join investigation
Police said Praveen, who is also in his 20s, is in UP’s Jaunpur and was asked to come to Delhi to join the investigation. Sahil was produced at a Delhi court, which sent him in police remand for two days.
Police are also checking Sahil’s mobile phone and social media accounts to know whether he was in touch with other girls. None of the bystanders made a PCR call and it was a police informer who sent out an alert about the incident following which a team rushed to the spot around 9.30 pm after a 25-minute delay, an official said.
Special CP Sanjay Singh in a tweet urged people to call the police when they face such an extraordinary situation. “Neither any of the eyewitnesses to the murder of the girl child Sakshi nor anyone in the locality made any PCR call to Delhi Police. An ordinary person facing extraordinary circumstances, seeing a fellow citizen in a life-and-death situation can help. Stay calm and call 112,” the officer tweeted.
National Commission for Scheduled Castes seeks report from Delhi govt, police
The National Commission for Scheduled Castes has sought a report from the Delhi government and the city police over the minor girl’s killing. The panel — in its letter to the Delhi chief secretary, secretary of the department for the welfare of SC/ST/OBC, Delhi government, city police chief, his deputy and the district magistrate — sought a detailed report on the matter from them while saying it had taken suo motu cognizance of the incident based on newspaper reports.
“Whereas suo motu cognizance has been taken by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes on a news item published in a daily newspaper on 29.05.2023… the commission has decided to investigate into the matter in pursuance of the powers conferred upon it under Article 338 of the Constitution of India. You are hereby requested to submit an action-taken report within three days of receipt of this notice,” it said.
The commission said if it did not receive a reply within the stipulated time, the panel “may exercise the powers of civil courts conferred under Article 338 of the Constitution of India and issue summons for your appearance in person or by a representative before the commission”.
(With PTI inputs)
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