Shahbad Dairy murder: 'Sahil did not look like a man who could kill someone,' says landlord

Sahil had been staying with his parents and three sisters at a rented house in a colony in Shahbad Dairy

Sahil, the 20-year-old youth who brutally killed his "girlfriend", was an "ordinary man" who kept to himself and never indulged in any argument or fight with anyone in his locality, said his landlord.

Delhi Police arrested Sahil from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh on Monday, a day after he brutally killed a 16-year-old girl by stabbing her more than 20 times and bludgeoning her head with a cement slab in a busy Shahbad Dairy bylane as passersby looked on petrified.

Sahil had been staying with his parents and three sisters at a rented house in a colony in the Shahbad Dairy area for the last two years.

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"He was an ordinary man. He kept to himself, went to work, and returned home. In these two years, I have never seen him nor his family fighting nor indulging in any kind of argument or fight with anyone here. I never got any complaint against him from any of our neighbours," Ramphool, Sahil's landlord, said.

Sahil worked as an AC and fridge mechanic and his father Sarfaraz was into welding grills, he said.

Soon after the incident, he locked his house and decamped with his entire family.

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Ramphool was unaware of Sahil's brutal act till Monday morning when he saw the video of the killing.

The incident has drawn massive outrage from all quarters with the public and politicians alike expressing disbelief at the broad daylight carnage.

According to police, Sahil and Sakshi, the victim, were in a "relationship" but had had a fight on Saturday. Sakshi had gone shopping Sunday evening for the birthday party of her friend's child when she was accosted by Sahil in the densely populated neighbourhood, police said.

A nearly 90-second video clip of the incident that was shared online showed Sahil pinning the girl to a wall with one hand and stabbing her repeatedly. He did not stop even when the girl slumped to the ground, jabbing the knife into her over 20 times, kicking her, and then slamming a cement slab on her repeatedly.

As Sahil stabbed the girl, people stood frozen with disbelief or simply walked on having decided not to intervene.

The video showed Sahil walking away from the victim in a casual manner only to turn back again and hit her with a slab before leaving the scene.

"He did not look like someone who could do this. He appeared like any other ordinary man. I was totally shocked when I saw the murder footage. I could not believe my eyes when I saw Sahil killing the girl so brutally," Ramphool said.

"It's hard to digest that he is the same man who had been living as a tenant in my house for two years," he said.

His relatives visited the house sometimes, but he never saw Sahil interacting with them, Ramphool added.