The Delhi Police on Wednesday filed a 640-page chargesheet against the main accused in the killing of a 16-year-old minor girl in Delhi's Shahbad Dairy. The charge sheet was filed before a POCSO court on Tuesday under section 12 of POCSO (punishment for committing sexual harassment upon a child) and sections of the Scheduled Caste and Schedule Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, court sources said. The accused has also been charged under IPC sections 302 (murder), 354 A (punishment for sexual harassment) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) along with the provisions of the Arms Act.
The horrifying murder was caught on a CCTV camera and the footage showed the man thrusting a knife into the girl no less than 20 times as scores of people passed by but none intervened to save her. She had 34 injury marks on her body and her skull was smashed, police had said. The special POCSO court is likely to take cognisance of the charge sheet on July 1. The accused was identified on the basis of CCTV footage and arrested on May 29 from Bulandshahr after a call from his aunt to his father was traced to a location in Uttar Pradesh.
After his medical examination there, Sahil was brought to the national capital late evening on June 1. The accused was produced before a duty metropolitan magistrate the next day, who permitted his custodial interrogation for two days. The accused's police custody was subsequently extended by three days. Police said the investigation revealed that the accused and the victim were in a relationship but they often quarrelled. Both had a fight on May 27, following which Sahil decided to take revenge and murdered her brutally the next day.
The weapon of offence–a knife–along with clothes and shoes which were worn by Sahil at the time of the offence were recovered at the accused's instance, police said. Other pieces of evidence, including CCTV footage, voice samples and biological evidence were also collected, they said. A total of 14 biological exhibits, one chemical exhibit, four physical exhibits and one cyber exhibit were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Rohini, police added.
Who is Sahil?
20-year-old Sahil, who stabbed a 16-year-old girl Sakshi over 20 times and bludgeoned her to death, is an AC and fridge mechanic by profession. He is a Muslim man but a Kalawa (sacred cotton red thread roll) was found on his wrist which fuelled an angle of 'love Jihad' in the case.
Ramphool, accused Sahil's landlord, in Jain Colony Barwala, Prahladpur, said, "Sahil had been staying here for the last two years along with his three sisters and parents. His father's name is Sarfaraz. He never had any fights with anyone in the neighbourhood here."
Why Sahil killed Sakshi?
According to police, accused Sahil had planned to kill after the 16-year-old girl, Sakshi, rebuffed him in front of her friends and refused to mend their relationship. Sahil stabbed Sakshi over 20 times and then bludgeoned her with a cement slab, killing her on the spot. She was found to have 34 injury marks on her body and her skull was smashed.
On May 31, Delhi police also recreated the scene of the crime 20-year-old Sahil killed Sakshi. Police have also recorded the statements of three friends of the victim. Meanwhile, The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded the death penalty for the accused and alleged that the killing was a fallout of "love jihad".
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