Murder of B.Com student triggers protests blocking road to Sohna

GURUGRAM: Murder of 21-year-old woman outside her college in Haryana's Ballabhgarh has triggered widespread protests with students and local residents blocking the Ballabgarh-Sohna Road in Faridabad on Tuesday along with the Tomar family demanding justice for Nikita Tomar who was shot dead in Ballabgarh on Monday.

Nikita was a final year B.Com student of Aggarwal College, Ballabgarh and had gone to give her exams on Monday. At around 3:00 pm when Nikita came out after appearing in the exam, a boy named Tausif who was present outside began to drag the 21-year-old into his car. When Nikita resisted, Tausif took out his pistol and fired gunshots at her at a close range. Tausif then along with his accomplice fled from the spot leaving the 21-year-old to die. She was declared brought dead when shifted to a hospital.

The entire sequence of the crime was captured by someone over mobile phone, the footage of which went viral over social media. In the video, Tausif, along with his accomplice, is seen arriving outside the college and parking the white-coloured car on the road. Nikita is seen walking on the road accompanied by one of her friends and the accused suddenly takes out a pistol and shoots her behind her ear from a close range leaving her in a pool of blood at the spot.

Before a few passersby, who noticed the crime taking place, could react, the two accused escaped from the spot in their car.

Police said main accused Tausif, hailing from Sohna in Gurgaon, and his accomplice Rehan, who is from Nuh, have been arrested. The two men were produced before a court in Faridabad district and sent to two-day police remand.

Meanwhile, shocking allegations are now coming to the fore of how Tausif, who is a former classmate of Nikita had been constantly pressurising and stalking Nikita despite his overtures being declined by her.

The woman's father alleged that Tausif had been harassing her for the last two years and pressing her for marriage, which she refused. There are reports that in 2018 also Tausif tried to forcefully abduct Nikita but his attempts were foiled. A formal complaint was also lodged against Tausif.

"My sister was a bright student with a lot of aspirations. She wanted to join the Indian Army and had even begun preparing for the same. Our family is completely devastated by Tausif who continued to trouble her for years despite her rejecting his overtures several times. Justice should be served immediately in the case," said Naveen, brother of Nikita.

The Tomar family belonging from Hapur in Western Uttar Pradesh reside in Sector-23 Faridabad. Tausif on the other hand was residing in Sohna near Gurugram. His grandfather Kabir Ahmed was a former MLA from Nuh. Moreover, his family members are still active in politics and retain their popularity in Nuh. Some of the protestors even alleged that this was an incident of love jihad, a theory that has not been confirmed by the Faridabad Police.

"We can understand the anger by the protestors over the incident. We have arrested the two accused in the case and we want to assure the family members and the protestors that we will not leave any stone unturned in ensuring justice for Nikita," said Inspector Adarshdeep ACP (Faridabad).