Anganwadi worker stabbed to death by jilted lover

An anganwadi worker was stabbed to death in broad daylight at Bhadreswar in Hooghly on Thursday morning.

Police said the victim Rina Kundu was a resident of Arabindapalli at Bhadreswar in Hooghly. The incident took place when she was heading to the anganwadi centre where she worked. The centre is situated at Pradippalli, which is situated at a distance of around 15 minutes from the victim's residence. The accused, Gautam Ghosh, was waiting at a lonely stretch of a road through which she used to pass everyday and he stopped her saying that he wants to tell her something.

An altercation broke out between them as she had given her some proposal, probably for marriage. Gautam was carrying a knife and he started stabbing her when she turned down his proposal. Local people rushed to the spot hearing the woman's cries for help and found her lying in a pool of blood. They took the woman to a hospital where she was declared brought dead. Police initiated a probe in this connection and spoke to the victim's family members. The police have identified two persons who had witnessed the incident and took down their statements.

The police came to know that the accused youth is a local resident and also went to his house. The police would also speak to her colleagues in the anganwadi centre to know whether they had ever seen the youth loitering around the centre. A police officer said it seems that Gautam had been keeping a watch on the movement of Rina for quite some days and he was well aware that she used to pass through area everyday.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused had even tried to give her some proposals twice earlier and he waited at the same spot. But for certain reasons, he had failed to approach her.