'He was stalking my daughter from Bangalore to here'

Antara Das and her father Debananda

In a murder reminiscent of the chilling daylight killing of 24-year-old Infosys techie S Swathi, Antara Das (23), a software engineer was stabbed to death with a sharp weapon outside her office in Pune on Friday. Her father Debanand Das says he only found out about the stalker after she died.

Debananda Das, father of slain Pune techie Antara Das, says he got to know about a boy who'd been harassing his ‘intelligent and brave' daughter only after she was killed.

Also read - Pune: 23-year-old techie brutally stabbed to death

"I am shocked. My daughter was an intelligent and brave girl. But there was a boy who was harassing her while she was studying Javascript in Bangalore, but I was unaware of him until I spoke to my younger daughter [after Antara's death], who said his name is Santosh Kumar and he harasses Antara," Debananda told mid-day.

Antara Das was a software engineer working for Capgemini in Pune. She was barely 500 metres away from her office at 8.30pm on Friday, when she was attacked with a sharp weapon by a man dressed in a ‘blue and black t-shirt', according to an eyewitness. Das hails from Behala in West Bengal.

The boy from her class
Antara's parents came to Pune from Kolkata on Sunday and performed her last rites in the city. "She'd completed her B. Tech and in April, she was in Bangalore pursuing a course on Javascript. On April 26, she told me she'd received a job offer from Capgemini and was going to go to Pune with a friend on April 28. I booked their train tickets and a hotel room. Later, she said that another boy from her class was also insisting on coming with them as he had a job interview." Antara then moved to Pune for her job, but couldn't escape from her harasser, a fact Debananda learnt only after his daughter's demise.

"Later, Sanchari Das, her colleague and roommate also told me about this boy who'd been harassing Antara a lot. Had I known earlier, such an incident could have been averted," the father added.

Lying on the footpath
Antara was taken to the hospital after Satyendra Sinha, an eyewitness, spotted her lying on a footpath. Her attacker had fled from the spot. "I was on my way home from work around 8.30 pm when I heard a girl yelling while she was fighting with a boy. I parked my vehicle to help her but found her lying on the footpath. I thought she'd either fallen down or been pushed forcefully. I immediately called out to passers by for help. Just then, a car stopped and I took her to the hospital. As it was dark, I couldn't see the boy, but he was wearing a black and blue stripped t-shirt," said Sinha. Antara was taken to the Dhanashree Hospital, where she was declared dead on arrival. After this, Sinha immediately went to the Dehu road police station.

Cop speak
BB Mujawar, deputy superintendent of police said, " The girl used to travel in the office vehicle but on Friday, she preferred leaving on her own, as mentioned in the office records. After the murder, her bag and belongings were safe."
Jay Jadhav, Pune's rural superintendent of police said, "As per the post mortem report, the death is due to stab injuries on her neck and forehead. As per her parent's statement the murder could be because of the fallout of a one-sided love affair. We are probing on similar lines and other aspect took. A robbery angle was ruled out as the valuables she was carrying were not missing."

Company says
An official statement by the spokesperson of Capegemini said, "We are shocked and saddened to learn about the tragic death of our employee. We stand with the family in this hour of loss and are extending all possible support to the investigating authorities."