MUMBAI: A 21-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly stabbing his 27-year-old neighbour repeatedly and killing him for ‘accidentally’ brushing past his 16-year-old niece while walking in a narrow lane in Goregaon East.
A minor incident, at 1 am on Monday in Sardar Nagar, took a deadly turn when the accused, Avinash Nalwade, fatally stabbed Raju Surange, a driver, who had stepped out of the house to publicly apologise to the girl and her mother, according to Rampiyare Rajbhar senior police inspector of Vanrai police station,
After the incident, both the neighbours filed complaints against each other. When Surange was battling for his life in a hospital, a case of 307 (attempt to murder) under the IPC was registered against Nalwade and Surange was booked under section 354 (molestation and outraging modesty), said a police officer.
In the complaint against Surange, it was alleged that he had molested the minor by putting his hand inside the shirt of the minor, said the officer. However, after Surange’s death, on Tuesday afternoon, a case of murder has been registered against Nalwade.
Elaborating on the incident, Rajbhar said that Surange and his mother were returning home from a wedding and were walking in a narrow lane, when he brushed past the minor, who was walking with her mother.
“Calling it an accident, Surange immediately apologised. However, when the girl’s mother started to abuse him, he retaliated. The girl’s mother then called out for her cousin, Nalwade, who stayed in the neighbourhood, to join in and they assaulted Surange and his mother. However, the locals intervened and stopped the fight,” said Rajbhar.
Surange and his mother then proceeded to their house, but the girl’s mother soon arrived at their door and began abusing him.
Surange told her that the incident was unintentional, but she asked him to come out of the house and publicly apologise to her and her daughter. When Surange emerged out of his house, Nalwade, stepped in and stabbed Surange repeatedly in the stomach and chest with a knife, said the police officer.
“When the victim raised an alarm, people from the neighbourhood gathered outside his house and seeing the crowd, Nalwade fled but was apprehended on Tuesday,” said Rajbhar. Surange was taken to Sion Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
“We have registered a case of murder against Nalwade and arrested him. He would be produced before the court on Wednesday,” said Rajbhar.