Cowards who couldn't handle 'no': Stalking cases that shook south India in 2017

Burnt, hacked, stabbed - even as popular culture continues to glorify stalking as 'romance', here's a list of women who were attacked by their stalkers.
Cowards who couldn't handle 'no': Stalking cases that shook south India in 2017
Cowards who couldn't handle 'no': Stalking cases that shook south India in 2017
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The death of 22-year-old Sandhya Rani, the primary breadwinner of a family of seven in Hyderabad, has caused anger across the country.

Sandhya was stalked, harassed and burnt alive by a man who used to work with her. He attacked Sandhya in full public view before dashing away in a motor cycle. 

According to the police, he was attempting to coerce Sandhya to quit her job at a steel factory and marry him. When she refused, he took this cowardly and drastic step. Her mother and siblings have been left shocked and broken by her demise. But Sandhya's is not an isolated case. 

South India has been plagued by men who refuse to take 'no' for an answer. Ironically, popular culture continues to glorify stalking as a 'manly' and even 'romantic' act, despite the criticism levied at such portrayals following the shocking murder of Chennai Infosys techie Swathi in 2016.

Here are some cases from across the five states that have sent shockwaves across the country.

Tamil Nadu

April

20-year-old Mythili was set on fire by a man named Parthiben in Chennai after she reportedly refused to continue their ‘relationship’. Parthiben also immolated himself, following the horrific act.

The two succumbed to their injuries at the Kilpauk Medical College a day later. Owing to family responsibilities, Mythili wanted to end the relationship with Parthiben who did not have a job but he could not accept her decision.

August

37-year-old Satyanarayanan, a stalker, stabbed his 21-year-old female neighbour for refusing to marry him. The act took place in broad daylight in T Nagar in Chennai.  Investigators arrested him less than two hours after the attack.

September

A 30-year-old woman was set ablaze by her stalker in Tiruppur for rejecting his advances. She had to then be admitted at the Coimbatore Medical College and is undergoing treatment. 

Sangeetha had reportedly met the accused, Mathiyalagan (30), at a wedding in Tiruppur and exchanged phone numbers. After speaking to him for a few days, Sangeetha realised that something was wrong with Maithyalagan’s behaviour and she stopped talking to him.

Maithyalagan convinced Sangeetha to meet him a couple of days later. While speaking to her, he hit her head with an iron rod and set her ablaze. 

November

Actor Bhuvaneshwari's son Mithun Srinivasan was arrested on charges of harassing a third-year MBBS student and allegedly threatening to pour kerosene on her and burn her if she did not marry him. 

The medical student claimed that he had been stalking her on social media and had also been harassing her in person.

December

Induja, a 21-year-old software engineer, was doused with fuel and burnt alive at her home in Adambakkam in Chennai by her stalker after she reportedly rejected his proposal of marriage. 

Indhuja’s sister Nivedha and mother Renuka who rushed to her rescue, suffered severe burns. Renuka passed succumbed to her injuries as well. 

Karnataka

April

A Bengaluru woman, Shobha, was hacked to death near her house in Deepanjali Nagar in Bengaluru. 

Girish, who was accused of stalking by the victim previously, is the prime suspect in the investigation. He had allegedly been stalking her for four months, to the point when she had to change her phone number thrice.

In spite of the woman changing her phone number repeatedly, the man kept harassing her and when he heard that she was about to get married, he allegedly turned up at her residence and stabbed her. 

June

An explosive online post in which a Mangaluru woman divulged the number plate of the scooter of a man stalking her went viral. 

Rashmi Shetty, 22, is a resident of Mangaluru and a student of Nalanda University in Bihar. She took to Facebook to call out a man following her home on a scooter in Mangaluru. She'd added that she was not afraid of him.

July

A 20-year old woman was stabbed by a man who had been stalking her in Bengaluru. The victim is an undergraduate student at a private college in the city. 

November

A 26-year old woman committed suicide after her colleague came home and attacked her in front of her children.

The victim Sumithra, a resident of Nellurupuram near HAL Airport, had earlier complained that Mahantesh, 23, a resident of KR Puram was harassing her for sexual favours.

Andhra Pradesh

July

A man murdered 19-year-old Bhavani in Rangireeju Veedhi, Visakhapatnam.

The police said that 23-year-old Satish and Bhavani had known each other and that she'd decided to stop seeing him following some differences in their relationship.

Satish, who suspected that she was seeing another man, slit her throat with a piece of glass.  

August

20-year-old Roopa from Visakhapatnam was set on fire inside her own home in T Nagarapalem after she was attacked by Hari Santosh (30). The accused also killed himself later, by jumping in front of a moving train near Vizianagaram.

Roopa was a second-year BSc student of a private college at Tagarapuvalasa. Hari, who worked in a furniture shop, had been reportedly stalking her for months.

Telangana

June

22-year-old Gayathri from Telangana was stabbed to death by a man in Yadagirigutta, a day before her engagement. 

The police said that the man was a stalker who continued to harass her, and had allegedly stabbed her as she was getting married to someone else. 

The man, identified as 23-year-old Goruganti Srikanth, surrendered before the police after committing the crime which occurred in Jayashankar-Bhupalapally district.

Kerala

July

A 17 year old girl, Sharika, was set on fire by a stalker and she succumbed to burns a week later. 

The girl sustained 80 per cent burns after she was attacked by a man, allegedly for turning down his demand to elope. 

Sharika was alone at home when the man, identified as Sajil, poured kerosene on her and set her on fire. The 23-year old accused, who was living in Kadamanitta, was arrested the day after the crime.

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