18-Year-Old Girl Shot Dead in Gurugram

An 18-year-old girl was allegedly shot dead on Monday night, outside the Patanjali shop in Gurugram where she worked. The man who shot her has been identified as Pawan Kumar, and is still on the loose.

The police are in the process of tracking him down. “There is CCTV footage but the face is not visible,” said senior police officer Jai Singh.

The girl’s father said that she had been harassed by a 28-year-old man who is from Jhajjar, but the police do not know whether this is the same man who shot her. The man had apparently been stalking her for months. The father had approached the police about it but they hadn’t taken adequate action.

She was shot at from point-blank range after leaving the Patanjali shop at 9 pm after her shift got over. Sohan Lal, a person who works in the market, said that the girl lay there for 10-15 minutes before anybody came forward to help. They were reluctant because they thought the police would harass anyone who would get involved.

The girl, Gunjan Dutt, was pursuing her college degree through distance learning from Delhi University. This is yet another horrific story coming out of Gurugram. On Tuesday, a 25-year-old man was arrested for raping a 17-year-old girl, and threatening her after he recorded the act. We need to stop acting like bystanders and encourage people to take action when they suspect and see something untoward happening.

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