Nagpur: Sanika Thugaonkar, 18, a student of textile designing, was stabbed repeatedly by her jilted male friend, Rohit Hemnani, at her uncle’s office at Saraswati Vinayak Apartment at Bajaj Nagar on Sunday at around 8pm. The victim’s maternal uncle, Avinash Patne, managed to rescue his niece, but was injured in the scuffle with the knife-wielding Hemnani during the dramatic attack.
Hemnani had first gone to Patne’s residence, which is in the same apartment, where the victim had been staying since childhood. Patne, who owns a finance consultancy, was in his office on the ground floor when Hemnani tried to meet his former friend at his house. Patne’s wife and other family members refused to allow Hemnani inside the house, and told him to meet Patne in his office.
Hemnani, a Khamla resident, approached Patne while he was busy speaking to a client. Patne, who was seeing Hemnani for the first time, asked him to wait. When the client left, Patne called Hemnani in to find out what he had to say.
Avinash said Hemnani did not seem tense or anxious. “He appeared like a polite person, and asked my permission to meet Sanika for five minutes for the last time. It did not appear that he had any sinister motive at that time,” he said. Hemnani and Sanika had become friends while attending tuitions, but their relation had ended six months ago, he said.
When Sanika reached the office, Hemnani said just two sentences before beginning to assault her. “The first question Hemnani asked Sanika was the reason behind snapping ties with him. Sanika had said she was not interested in maintaining any relations due to his attitude. Hemnani tried to confront her, saying she could have given him at least an opportunity to explain his position,” said Patne.
“Since I felt he was getting aggressive, I asked Sanika to go back home. At the moment, Hemnani took out the knife from his back pocket and stabbed Sanika in the back. I immediately reacted and tried to wrench the knife away, hurting my hand in the process. However, Hemnani had by then already pinned her to the ground, and was repeatedly stabbing her. He then fled from the place,” he said.
A grievously injured Sanika was rushed to Orange City Hospital and Research Institute where doctors immediately shifted her to the operation theatre. Her condition was extremely critical while going to the press. Bajaj Nagar police have registered an offence.