Girl stabbed to death for opposing love, two minors held

PUNE: A 14-year-old girl was brutally stabbed to death by three persons, two of them minors, on a street in Pune on Tuesday evening when she was on her way to kabaddi practice, police said.

Prima facie, a "one-sided" love affair by a distant relative of the girl, a class 8 student, led to the murder, an official said, adding two of the accused who are minors were apprehended hours after the incident.

"The girl was on her way to kabaddi practice at Yash Lawns in the Bibewadi area around 5.45 pm. When she was standing with her friends near the lawns, the three accused, one of them a 22-year-old man, came on a motorcycle. While one remained on the motorbike, the other two, including the 22-year-old, attacked her with sharp weapons.

"They stabbed her multiple times in the throat and other parts of the body. The attack was so brutal that the girl died on the spot, " said Sunil Zaware, senior inspector at the Bibwewadi police station.

He said after killing her, the trio fled the spot.

"However, we have managed to apprehend two accused, who are minors, while the main accused (who is major) is still at large," he informed.

Zaware added the 22-year-old accused, Shubham Bhagwat, is a distant relative of the girl and used to stay at her house. "As he had developed one-sided love for the girl, her parents asked him to leave the house," he said.

Namrata Patil, senior police official (Zone V), said they found a pistol from the spot which looks like a toy gun.

Police were examining its genuineness, Patil said.

Condemning the brutal act, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who is also the Pune district guardian minister, asked the police to take prompt action in the matter.