Jilted lover shoots woman after ‘spurned’ marriage proposal

Allegedly spurned after being rejected, a jilted 30-year-old man shot a 24-year-old girl, who works as a chartered accountant for a private company in Gurugram, in northwest Delhi’s Ashok Vihar Phase-IV on August 6. The victim was injured as the bullet grazed past the victim’s chest and did not pierce her skin.

The incident took place at the woman’s maternal grandmother’s house when the accused identified as 30-year-old Harish Sharma, was enraged because the woman had reportedly ‘snubbed’ him and had ‘spurned’ his marriage proposal, the police said.

Aslam Khan, Deputy commissioner of police (northwest Delhi) said, “Sharma fled after the shooting but was caught from his house in east Delhi’s Shahdara on Sunday morning. A country-made pistol used for the crime was recovered from him. He had purchased the pistol for Rs 45,000 from Uttar Pradesh’s Muradnagar 20 days ago for allegedly killing the woman.”

A CCTV camera installed in the victim’s neighbourhood recorded Sharma escaping the crime scene.

The crime was reported to the police around 10:30 pm.
The events that led to the shooting of the woman began when she was at her grandmother’s C-block house and someone rang the doorbell. On opening the door, she found Sharma standing outside, the police reported.

“Sharma wanted to talk to her. But she asked him to leave. This apparently angered Sharma who whipped out a pistol and shot at the woman even as she tried to close the door. He then fled,” a police officer said.
The bullet allegedly grazed past her body and had caused injuries to her chest. The woman’s neighbours rushed to the scene upon hearing the gunshot. She was then rushed to a nearby private hospital, by her sister and brother-in-law who reside in the vicinity, where her condition was stated to be stable and out of danger.

The Bharat Nagar police station registered a case of murder and the investigation began. “The woman in her statement also alleged that Sharma used to harass and stalk her. He used to follow her to her office in Gurugram. She had complained about the same to her office management,” the officer said.

The CCTV footage was retrieved and analysed by the investigating team and Sharma was identified as the man escaping the crime scene after shooting the woman. A trap was then laid outside his home in Shahdara by the investigating team. “We nabbed him when he returned home around 3 am on Sunday,” added the DCP.

Ater probing the accused, DCP Khan asserted that Sharma had told them that he was annoyed with the woman as she got engaged to another man around five months ago.

“Sharma and the woman knew each other as they were neighbours and friends for the last ten years. The woman has not filed a police complaint against Sharma,” said Khan.

“Sharma claimed that they were in a relationship. He told us that she snubbed him and decided to marry somebody else. He claims the woman was engaged to him. He has, however, failed to produce any evidence to prove his claims,” Khan said. He also added that the woman’s fiancé had also asked Sharma to stay away from her.

Police sources also said that Sharma was unemployed and his family members claimed that they had disowned him last month because of his “obsession” for the woman.

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