A jilted lover brutally killed his girlfriend on a road in Maharashtra's Vasai on Friday, striking her head 18 times with a spanner as onlookers watched, news agency PTI reported citing officials. CCTV footage captured the incident, showing bystanders failing to help as the man repeatedly struck her.
Rohit Yadav, 32, attacked Arati Yadav, 22, with an industrial spanner, inflicting 18 wounds, senior inspector Jairaj Ranaware of Valiv police station told PTI. The two had been neighbours and in a relationship for several years, but she recently cut off contact, leading him to suspect she was seeing someone else.
As he attacked her, Yadav repeatedly shouted, "Kyun kiya aisa mere saath (why did you do this to me)". Despite a large crowd watching the assault, only one person attempted to intervene. The Police have registered a murder case and arrested Yadav, as per PTI.
As per the report, the attack occurred around 8:30 AM in the Chindpada locality of Vasai. Both the victim and the assailants worked at an industrial estate and lived in the same neighbourhood.
That morning, she was on her way to work when Yadav confronted her and began attacking her after a quarrel. Even after she collapsed, he continued his assault and remained at the scene until police arrived, as per the report.
Valiv police sent the body for a post-mortem and detained a man and a woman who filmed the attack and posted the videos on social media.
Arati Yadav's sister claimed that the family had reported Rohit Yadav's previous violence to the police, but no action was taken. She stated that the police made them wait for hours and dismissed their concerns.
The video footage of the incident went viral on social media, sparking public outrage. Maharashtra Legislative Council deputy chairperson Neelam Gorhe called for the implementation of a "zero tolerance for crimes against women" policy. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sushma Andhare suggested that the bystanders' inaction might be due to fear of becoming involved in police investigations as witnesses.