Bhopal: On 27 June, a 19-year-old trainee nurse was busy carrying out her usual duties in Ward 22 of the district hospital in Madhya Pradesh’s Narsinghpur. But around 2.30 pm, as Sandhya Choudhary stood outside the ward, she was suddenly grabbed by her head and pushed against the wall.
The attacker, 22-year-old Abhishek Koshti, allegedly pulled out a knife, and went straight for her neck. As he “continued to slit her throat for the next 10 minutes”, people stood by and watched, with some recording videos on their phones.
Two hospital staffers recorded the incident from one foot away—Abhishek first slitting Sandhya’s throat, then taking the knife to his own, and going back for Sandhya’s neck again.
Abhishek killed Sandhya in full public view, and also managed to escape the hospital premises. He was nabbed by the police only about an hour later, after they were alerted. Other nursing students informed the police about MLB School, where Sandhya studied, and that led them to her parents. Sandhya’s father Harilal Chaudhary, a vegetable vendor, reached the hospital to find his only daughter lying in a pool of blood.
Abhishek has confessed to the crime, Narsinghpur Superintendent of Police Mrigakhi Deka told ThePrint. “Many eyewitnesses claimed in their statement that Abhishek had threatened to kill them if they tried to intervene.”
The incident triggered sharp reaction, with the residents of the city protesting with the victim’s family, blocking the road outside the hospital. Agitated family members also demanded demolition of Abhishek’s house.
“People have demanded a fast-track trial, and we have nearly completed our chargesheet. It is one of those rare cases of murder where there are abundant eye witnesses,” said SP Deka.
Sandhya’s family has demanded capital punishment for the accused. “She was my only daughter. She was very intelligent, and always said that she would like to become a doctor or nurse. I was doing my best in my limited capacity to give her the best education I could,” Harilal Chaudhary told The Print.
According to the police probe so far, Abhishek and Sandhya had met over Instagram, and had known each other for two years. In his statement, Abhishek said that over the past few months, he had been suspecting that Sandhya was cheating on him, and had warned her of dire consequences.
“The subject became a sore point for the two, and they stopped talking. Abhishek also said that he had warned Sandhya’s family too. And on 27 June, as she stood near the ward at the hospital, Abhishek attacked her and the first wound itself was fatal,” SP Deka said.
“Even though there were reports that the two had an argument before Abhishek attacked her, the same has not come out in the investigation so far. What appears is that Sandhya was standing there when he attacked her.”
Narsinghpur MLA Jamal Singh Patel from BJP has offered Rs 50,000 to the victim’s family, with the district administration offering another Rs 50,000.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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