Stalker stabs ex-colleague on busy street in T Nagar

CHENNAI: A youth, who had been stalking a former colleague for over a year, assaulted and stabbed her causing serious injuries after she brushed him off and walked away on a busy street in T Nagar on Friday.
The attack shocked bystanders on Thyagaraya Road who initially thought that it was a minor tiff between friends until it turned violent. The attacker, a 24-year-old call center employee, attempted to walk away from the scene after inflicting injuries on the girl with a sharp object, but was immediately nabbed by the public and handed over to the police.
The girl, who was bleeding profusely, was helped by a few women staff at a nearby petrol pump to get to a hospital. She is now under treatment at a private hospital and her condition is stable. The injuries caused by a small knife were on her upper torso, left hand and right arm.
S Roopashree, 21, a resident of Kamarajar Street in Alapakkam, was walking towards her office around 8.30am when the man stopped her. Roopashree tried to ignore him and walk past, but according to witnesses, the assailant got physical. "I was shocked to see him pulling her by her hair and slapping her," said one of the petrol bunk staffers.
He was later identified as S Hemanth Kumar, a resident of Manickavasagar Street in Selaiyur. He worked with her at a call centre in Ambattur Industrial Estate. "He troubled her a lot when they worked together. Roopashree quit her job six months ago because of his behaviour. But she did not inform her parents about the problems she faced at her workplace," said Pondy Bazaar inspector G Venkatesan.
She left the company to join another call center in T Nagar. But the man managed to trace her and attempted to persuade her into a relationship. He has now been remanded in judicial custody.