NEW DELHI: Two days after a 19-year-old pregnant woman was found severely injured in east Delhi's Mayur Vihar, her 21-year-old partner was arrested on Saturday for allegedly trying to kill her, police said.
The accused, identified as Yogesh Dheda, had allegedly attacked the woman with a screwdriver, blade and stones as he wanted to abort her pregnancy, they said.
The woman, who works in an Ayurveda clinic, was found lying in a pool of blood near the fire brigade office in Chilla village on Thursday morning, the police had said.
The victim is battling for life at the Lok Nayak Hospital and has been put on ventilator support, the police said.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Achin Garg said Dheda, a resident of Chilla village here, had left her at the spot assuming she was dead.
Garg said Dheda was arrested on Saturday and subsequently produced before the court.
Another officer said the victim and Dheda resided in the same locality and had known each other for a few years.
"The duo were in a relationship for the past three years but they had a dispute after the woman informed Dheda that she conceived his child," the officer said.
Dheda had been forcing the woman to abort the child and gave her some pills that could cause miscarriage, the officer said.
Frustrated over the woman refusing to give in to his demand, Dheda attacked her while she was returning home from her office on Wednesday night, the officer added.
Garg said the woman met Dheda outside the New Ashok Nagar Metro station and walked together towards her home.
When the couple reached a park near the fire brigade office in Chilla and sat there for some time, Dheda again tried to convince his partner to abort the child and when she refused, he allegedly attacked her with a screwdriver and blade, the Additional DCP said.
"He allegedly stabbed her multiple times and slashed her neck with the blade. He also stoned her face with bricks to hide her identity," another officer said.
It appeared that the accused had come to meet the woman with prior planning to eliminate her as he was carrying a screwdriver and a blade, Garg said.
He added that Dheda destroyed the woman's mobile phone and the sim card.
Assuming that she was dead, he left her at the spot and fled.
Based on technical evidence, chat history between the couple, and CCTV footage of the nearby area, the police zeroed in on Dheda and arrested him on Saturday, the officer said.
The police had lodged an FIR under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code in connection with the incident on Thursday.