CHENNAI: In what the police believe is an act of self defense To escape a rapist, a 19-year-old woman stabbed a 24-year-old man with a knife used by him to threaten her in her attempted rape in Sholavaram in Tiruvallur district on Saturday night.
According to Ponneri DSP Kalpana Dutt, a legal opinion has been requested and the victim cannot be arrested in the case.
The incident occurred around 8 p.m. when he went to relieve himself in a dimly lit area surrounded by bushes. She did not realize that S Ajithkumar, 24, her relative from the same village, was following her to the place. The teenager panicked to see him standing with a bottle of beer. Before she could move, the man put a knife to her neck and threatened to rape her, police sources said, citing the victim.
When he began to undress, she begged him to forgive her. Realizing he was drunk, he pushed her away and he hit his head against a tree and dropped his knife. The victim took the gun and stabbed him in the neck several times until he passed out. Leaving him dead at the scene, he arrived at the Sholavaram police station on his own around 9 pm and reported the incident to the police there.
‘The deceased was an alcoholic’
Police personnel rushed to the scene, recovered Ajithkumar’s body, and sent him to Stanley Hospital for an autopsy. Police registered a murder case, but no arrests have been made.
DSP said the teenager was a Class X dropout. Ajithkumar, who had two children, was the son of his aunt. He separated from his wife a few months ago after a domestic dispute. According to police, the man was an unemployed alcoholic and had theft cases pending against him. He always moved with a knife in search of easy targets.
“So far it appears to be an act of self-defense and there appears to be no other motive,” the police officer said.
“We will present a final report to the court where it will be decided whether an action is warranted in the case,” the DSP added.
(The identity of the victim has not been disclosed to protect her privacy per Supreme Court directives in cases involving sexual assault)
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