Crime news: A 21-year-old man was arrested for allegedly attempting to kill his 19-year-old pregnant partner in east Delhi’s Mayur Vihar, police said on Saturday (January 13). The police said that the man attacked her with a screwdriver, stabbed her multiple times and slashed her neck with a blade for refusing to abort the pregnancy. The woman was found severely injured in the area a few days ago, after which she was admitted to Lok Nayak Hospital where she is battling for life, the police said.

The accused was identified as Yogesh Dheda who lived in the same locality as the woman –  Chilla village – and both of them knew each other for a few years, the police said.

“The accused, identified as Yogesh Dheda, had allegedly attacked the woman with a screwdriver, blade, and stones as he wanted to abort her pregnancy. The woman, who works in an Ayurveda clinic, was found lying in a pool of blood near the fire brigade office in Chilla village on Thursday morning,” the police said.

The victim has been on ventilator support at the hospital where she is battling for life.

Assuming that the woman was dead after the attack, the man had left her lying alone at the spot and stoned her face to conceal her identity, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Achin Garg said.

Garg said that the accused was arrested on Saturday and produced before the court.

What Happened?

According to the police officer, the couple had been in a relationship for the past three years. However, they had a dispute after the woman informed Dheda that she was pregnant with his child.

The man had been pressuring her to have an abortion and even gave her pills to cause a miscarriage. Frustrated by the woman’s refusal to comply with his demand, Dheda brutally attacked her with the intention to kill while she was returning home from her office on Wednesday night, the police said.

Garg said that the woman had met her partner outside the New Ashok Nagar Metro station and they walked together towards her home.

“When the couple reached a park near the fire brigade office in Chilla and sat there for some time, Dheda again tried to convince his partner to abort the child. When she refused, he allegedly attacked her with a screwdriver and blade,” the Additional DCP said.

\”He allegedly stabbed her multiple times and slashed her neck with the blade. He also stoned her face with bricks to hide her identity,\” another officer said.

Planned Murder

According to Garg, it appeared as though the accused had met with the intention to kill her that night, as he was in possession of a screwdriver and a blade.

Dheda destroyed the woman’s mobile phone and SIM card, the police said.

“Assuming that she was dead, he left her at the spot and fled. Based on technical evidence, chat history between the couple, and CCTV footage of the nearby area, the police zeroed in on Dheda and arrested him on Saturday,” the officer said.

The police had lodged an FIR under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code in connection with the incident on Thursday.

Further investigation into the matter is underway.

(With PTI inputs)

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