Youth held for attacking woman scribe; had stalked her for a month

For a month, Sanjay would invariably make time from the nail polishing unit he used to work in and reach Picnic Hut Park in Ashok Vihar. He would stand around the area to catch the glimpse of a woman he was infatuated with: Aparna Kalra.

Fearing rejection, he never approached her. But on Wednesday, when he spotted her taking a stroll, he took his chances and approached her.

When she spurned his advances, a boiling rage took over him, and he picked up a stone and attacked her rendering her unconscious.

22-year-old Sanjay, a resident of Sawan Park, was arrested in connection with the case, police said on Friday.

"He is currently being interrogated and has told us that he had kept an eye out on her for a month. Sanjay would turn up at the park and wait to catch a glimpse of her," said a source privy to the investigation.

Kalra, a freelance journalist, is now said to be stable. However, she had not regained consciousness at the writing of this report.

She was supposed to undergo a CT scan on Friday, which was postponed.

According to Joint Commissioner of Police (Northern Range) Rajesh Khurana, the six North West District teams working on the case figured out that the accused was someone who stayed in proximity of the park, helping the investigators to narrow down their search.

"We knew that the accused would be a frequent visitor and had stayed in proximity of the park. The park itself is huge and the person involved knew his way around the park. Sanjay was a regular visitor to the park," said Khurana.

Acting on the input, police managed to zero in on Sanjay and arrested him. On being questioned, he revealed that he was infatuated with Kalra and wanted to strike a friendship with her.

Cops, however, denied that the journalist was being stalked and claimed that this was a one-off incident.

"He had noticed Aparna taking a stroll and was infatuated with her and had tried to accost her. But when she spurned his advances, he got infuriated and hit her with a stone," Khurana said.

Police had previously recovered the weapon of offence on the day of the incident. They also denied that the journalist was sexually assaulted. "We have found no evidence of sexual assault. We are now waiting for her to regain her consciousness and will ask for other details," said a senior police official.