Visakhapatnam: A 20-year-old girl suffered severe injuries after she was attacked by a man with an iron rod for ignoring his advances in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam. The incident took place near Balacheruvu in Pedagantyada under New Port police station limits of the port city. The accused was identified as Neeraj Sarma (28), a native of Jammu and Kashmir, who stays with his family in Visakhapatnam.
Police said he had been stalking the girl for the past several months, and after she kept ignoring him, he came to her house on Thursday and hit her on the head with an iron road. While Neeraj managed to escape from the spot, the profusely bleeding girl was rushed to the nearest hospital by neighbours who heard her cries for help. Doctors applied 30 stitches to stop the bleeding. Her condition is said to be critical.
The girl’s father told reporters that Neeraj was harassing his daughter for the past few months. He said they lodged police complaints twice eight months ago, and he stopped for sometime after being warned by police. But he again started sending obscene and morphed images to her and her relatives, he said adding that they even lodged a complaint with the cybercrime police.
New Port police station circle inspector Dali Babu told TOI the girl is doing her graduation and had met Neeraj at a religious gathering. While they became friends, Neeraj reportedly wanted to marry her, and the rift started from there. On Thursday, after coming to know that her parents had gone out, he went to the girl’s house with an iron rod and attacked her when she opened the door. As Meghana cried for help, he escaped from the scene. Police have registered a case and launched a manhunt for Neeraj.
