‘Rejected’ stalker stabs 14-year-old girl, slits own throat in panic

CHENNAI: A 14-year-old class IX student was stabbed and injured by a stalker who barged in when the girl was home alone at Pallavaram on Friday, police said.Police said the stalker, Selvam, 25, of Tiruvannamalai stabbed the girl when she refused his advances.

Hearing her screams, neighbours rushed to the girl’s rescue. The stalker panicked and slit his own throat and collapsed, police said.The girl and her assailant were taken by locals to the govt hospital at Chromepet for treatment. Hospital authorities alerted police, following which a team from Pallavaram recorded the girl’s statement.

Based on a complaint filed by her parents, police registered a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and for attempted murder against the stalker, who works as a house painter.Selvam was arrested and produced before a magistrate. Considering his injuries, he was placed in the convicts’ ward in judicial custody, police said.