24-year-old B Janaki was supposed to leave to her hometown in Andhra Pradesh's Srikakulam district on Wednesday evening to meet her parents.
She planned to finish her shift at DMart, a supermarket in Hyderabad, where she was working as a sales woman, take her salary and go home after shopping for her family.
Instead, her distraught parents were on their way to Hyderabad's Gandhi Hospital on Wednesday, to see their daughter's body.
Janaki was killed on Tuesday when her colleague allegedly stabbed her in her house at Moosapet.
The police said that Anantappa alias Anand barged in, entered into an argument with her and then attacked her with a knife. He had been stalking and harassing her for more than six months.
Janaki lived in a one-bedroom house in a packed lane, situated close to the IDL Access Road. She shared the room with Rupa, a close friend.
"Janaki and Rupa had shifted here around four years ago. They were from the same village, and they both were employed with DMart, which is situated right on the main road," says Venkatesh, the owner of the flat where the deceased was staying.
"They never gave any trouble, and always paid the rent on time. They were quiet and kept to themselves. We would always see her washing clothes in the veranda outside her house, and hanging them over there," Venkatesh adds, as he points to the adjacent plot.
24 hours since her brutal murder, though the house was locked, some of Janaki's clothes were still hanging to dry on the clothesline.
“She planned to go home, instead only her body will,” remarks Abed, another local resident.
The crime
The two girls worked a shift from 8 am to 5 pm, and would walk home after work together.
On Tuesday, Rupa was delayed and Janaki reached home early. It was here that Anand barged in, before he allegedly stabbed her.
The police said that after committing the crime, Anand fled from the scene. Within the next half an hour, Rupa came home to find the door locked. She opened the door and found her friend's bleeding body.
“What is even more unfortunate, is that the residents of the house adjacent to theirs, had gone to Tirupati for Sankranti. We stay on the top floor of the house and didn’t hear anything,” Venkatesh says.
Rupa then ran upstairs and informed Venkatesh’s wife. Janaki was then shifted to Vasundhara hospital nearby. For better treatment, they transported her to Omni hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries late on Tuesday.
(The crowded lane where Janaki stayed)
A sobbing Rupa told mediapersons later that Janaki was troubled by Anand’s behaviour and had recently told her about him.
She also said that Janaki hailed from a poor family with more than seven members. The family was also said to be planning her engagement back home.
The police also said that he had come to her house about 10 days ago and had threatened to kill her and kill himself, if she did not marry him.
The body was sent for a post-mortem at Gandhi Hospital, a special team was formed to nab him on Wednesday.
Anand was later nabbed, and case was registered under Section 302 (Murder) of the IPC.
Past instances
In a similar incident on December 21, 22-year-old Sandhya Rani was publicly set on fire by her stalker, Sai Karthik, who was also a colleague. In her dying declaration, Sandhya told the police that Karthik had been harassing her for over a year, demanding that she get married to him.
Sandhya’s family was hoping to celebrate her brother’s birthday, when they were forced to witness their youngest die in pain instead.
On December 30, a deranged stalker stabbed a 24-year-old woman to death in Telangana on Saturday before committing suicide by consuming poison.
The accused, identified as V Srinivas Raju (26) and a relative of the victim, had been harassing Pravalika, a volunteer teacher in Nemalipeta village of Bhadradri Kothagudem district, for the past few months, insisting that she marry him.