Vasai: A 23-year-old woman was knifed, allegedly by her 24-year-old boyfriend, at a pharmacy in Virar, where she worked as a pharmacist, Wednesday afternoon when she was alone at the pharmacy. The woman has sustained serious injury to the face, chest and forehead is in a critical condition and is undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit of a private hospital. The woman has a fractured jaw besides other injuries on the chest and other parts. The man has been arrested.
The boyfriend, Akshay Patil called up the father of the woman, Bhavika Gawad, and “bragged that he had killed her”, said the police. Soon after, her parents rushed to the pharmacy only to find their daughter lying on the floor, blood splattered all over on the floor of the chemist’s shop. The police said it is not yet clear what had prompted the attack on the woman.
The young couple had marriage plans. Their families were acquainted and members of both families were aware of the relationship between the two. Only last month, the man’s family had visited the woman’s home to formalise and finalise the alliance, the woman’s mother has stated in her complaint to the police. However, the woman’s family had suggested deferring the marriage ceremony for another year, citing her higher education plans.
Subsequently, the woman had complained that the boyfriend had, on a couple of occasions, been forcing her to join him for a date, which she refused. That’s when the woman’s parents visited the man’s home and told him to stay away from her until she sorted out her career plans.
“Irked by this, he attacked her. He used a kitchen knife to hurt her and also kicked her in the face,” said senior inspector of Virar police station Lalu Ture. The youngster knew her work schedule and timings of the pharmacy where she worked.
The police said they are investigating the sequence of events that triggered the knife attack on the woman.
The woman’s father said that no sooner had they received the call from the man, informing them about the attack, than they rushed to the pharmacy store. “He called up and said ‘I have killed your daughter’,” the woman’s father said, adding that they rushed to the pharmacy and found her in a pool of blood.
“He deserves to be hanged or kept in prison. He is a danger to society,” the father said.