A 21-year-old woman was slashed with a knife by a man in broad daylight in T Nagar on Wednesday afternoon for refusing to marry him. Police arrested the man who tried to flee from the spot.

Satyanarayanan, (40), the accused in the case, was a neighbour of the woman’s mother, Sumathi, (40), and they had known each other for 11 years. They were living in Kannagi Nagar. Recently, he started forcing Sumathi to get her daughter married to him.  

Police told The New Indian Express that after both the woman and her daughter refused the marriage proposal, Satyanarayanan attacked the daughter on her way to office.

Reportedly, Satyanarayanan was working as a vendor of toys and other knickknacks at Parry’s Corner and he had been stalking the woman for some time. 

The woman is a diploma student. On Wednesday, as the woman was walking towards her study centre in T Nagar, Satya followed her and proposed to her at an isolated street in T Nagar. When she again refused the proposal, he took out a knife and stabbed her.

Hearing her screams, people living around the place came to her rescue but the man managed to flee. The woman was immediately taken to a nearby hospital and is reportedly in a stable condition.

Police said witnesses had told them that Satyanarayanan was shouting at the woman saying that he would not let any other man marry her and that he would kill her, reported The Times of India.

Police also added that Satyanarayanan was stalking the woman for more than a month. The woman had earlier warned him that she would file a police complaint.

A case has been registered at Mambalam police station. Sumathi had separated from her husband 15 years ago and was living with her daughter. Police said that Sumathi met Satya after she shifted to Kannagi Nagar.