Delhi murder: man arrested after footage emerges of brutal murder of 16-year-old girl

Warning: readers may find details of this story distressing

A man has been detained in the Indian capital, Delhi, for the brutal stabbing and murder of a 16-year-old girl, which was caught on camera. 

Footage of the frenzied attack shows a person repeatedly stabbing a girl and then crushing her head with a huge boulder. The video has sparked outrage in the country, as many people were seen walking past the assault without intervening. Indian media outlet Hindustan Times reported that the girl had been romantically involved with the 20-year-old man. 

News Agency ANI quoted the teenager’s father saying: "My daughter was stabbed many times, her head was also bludgeoned into pieces. We demand stringent punishment for the accused."

The father denied knowing about the suspect, who has been named locally as Sahil.

Police claimed that the accused had fled and was hiding with relatives. They said: “However, after reaching there, he called his father and after that, the police arrested him through technical surveillance.”

The preliminary post-mortem report revealed that the girl’s skull had been crushed after she was stabbed 16 times in the Shahbad Dairy area of Delhi on Sunday night (28 May). The detailed post-mortem report has not yet been released.

Senior police official Ravi Kumar Singh added that the investigation was going on and that the police couldn't reveal more details at the moment.

Hashtags such as #Delhimurder and #Delhicrime were trending on Twitter along with Shahbad Dairy, the name of the area where the crime occurred. In a Twitter post, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal described the murder as "very sad and unfortunate", adding that “criminals have become fearless, and no longer fear the police”.

It is reminiscent of the 2012 Delhi gang rape, which was a brutal and highly publicised incident of sexual assault that took place in the capital. On 16 December 2012, a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern was brutally raped and assaulted by six men on a private bus she boarded with a male friend. The victim's injuries were so severe that she was flown to a hospital in Singapore for further treatment but sadly succumbed to her injuries later that month. 

The incident sparked widespread outrage and protests across the country, as well as international condemnation, bringing attention to the issue of gender-based violence and the need for stricter laws and improved safety measures for women. The case led to significant changes in India's legal system, including the implementation of harsher punishments for sexual offences.