‘Sad that people filmed the stabbing instead of stopping the assailant’

Mangaluru, Jul 1: Dakshina Kannada district in-charge minister U T Khader has expressed pain that when a jilted lover was stabbing a girl repeatedly in broad daylight, the onlookers were filming the assault instead of intervening to stop him.

Last Friday Sushanth, a 28-year-old dance teacher had stabbed Deeksha, an MBA student, 12 times, and later attempted to end his life by slitting his throat at Bagambila near Deralakatte. The video clippings of the incident are still going viral on social media. 

Mr Khader on Sunday visited the Justice KS Hegde Hospital in Derlakatte where Deeksha, is battling for her life, and met her family members. He also offered financial help of Rs 50,000 to meet her medical expenses. He said the government would look after the hospital expenses of the victim. 

"The victim is under observation for the next 48 hours. It is sad that on the fateful day, people, instead of stopping the man who was stabbing Deeksha in broad daylight, were taking videos of the same. A brave nurse rushed to the spot and helped her," Khader said.

According to police sources, Sushanth, a resident of Shaktinagar, was a dance teacher, and he and Deeksha were in a relationship for a long time. She started to maintain a distance from Sushanth, after he was booked for assault on the Mangaluru court premises, and also in other criminal cases.

Preliminary investigations reveal that the accused, who is also under treatment, committed the crime under the influence of alcohol or drugs.