Mumbai: Earlier this month, a sessions court sentenced 32-year-old Uttar Pradesh resident Yogeshkumar Singh to three years in prison for attempted murder. He had stabbed a television actress on the road in October 2020 after she turned down his advances.

According to the prosecution's case, the victim, a well-known actress, came into contact with Singh through social media. Singh introduced himself as a film producer.

In 2020, the actress met the accused for the first time. Between May and June 2020, Singh contacted her about acting in a music video. The actress met him at his office several times. However, after these meetings, she realised that Singh was not serious about actual work, leading her to start ignoring him. The victim claimed that the accused insisted on a relationship and marriage, but she declined.

On October 26, 2020, around 9pm, the actress was intercepted by the accused while she was walking from Seven Bungalows towards Versova, where she lived. Singh appeared visibly angry and attempted to engage her in conversation, but she refused.

he accused then threatened to kill her and himself. In a sudden act of violence, he pulled out a knife and stabbed the actress in the stomach, hands and back before fleeing the scene. A passerby then rushed the actress to the hospital in an auto rickshaw.

Meanwhile, Singh was involved in an accident near Palghar while traveling to Mumbai via the Ahmedabad highway. He was admitted to the hospital, where the police arrested him on October 29, 2020.

The accused, however, claimed that the actress had fabricated false charges against him to increase her social media following. The defense further argued that the victim was assaulted by an unknown person attempting to snatch her waist pouch and ring.

The court rejected this defense, observing, “Given the nature of the injuries and the locations on the body where the victim was injured, it is impossible that a robber would assault the victim on her back and cause a deep injury to her stomach. Therefore, the defense presented by the advocate is not plausible. The injuries sustained by the victim cannot be self-inflicted or received during a scuffle related to the snatching of a pouch and finger ring or theft.”

Consequently, while holding Singh guilty of attempted murder, the court noted, “The victim knew the accused, who stabbed her on a public road. The accused was armed with a knife at the time of the incident and stabbed the victim after she ignored him. The possession of the knife and the multiple stabs indicate the accused had the intention to cause serious injury to the victim. Had the victim not received immediate medical treatment and been admitted to Kokilaben Hospital, she could have died.”

However, the court showed leniency toward the accused when determining his punishment, noting that he is 32 years old and has no prior convictions. Thus, he was sentenced to three years in prison and fined Rs3,000.