A 16-year-old girl died when a guy who had been following her for months struck her with an axe. The accused, a 21-year-old man, was arrested by police on Tuesday.

According to a neighbour, Pravin was arrested at his sister’s home in Palwal, Haryana, where he had fled after hacking the Class 11 pupil.

“We received a PCR call at 1:30 pm from South Campus police station saying that a girl had been attacked with an axe. She was admitted to Safdarjung Hospital. Unfortunately, she passed away today. The accused was a stalker and has been caught,” South-West District Deputy Commissioner of Police Ingit Pratap Singh said on Tuesday.

A resident of a shantytown in Delhi’s Moti Bagh area, Pravin, an unemployed person, had been stalking the girl for months, the police said. Upset at being pestered, she informed her father who works as a watchman. He then beat up Pravin, which enraged the young man further and decided to kill her.

Around a month ago, the police said, Pravin purchased an axe from RK Puram. On Monday, as she headed home, he struck her face with the weapon and left the scene. She suffered an injury near her eyebrow.

Although the teenager was taken to the hospital, she died of her injuries shortly after.

“I was at the shop when I received the information. My father runs an electric shop and we have a fruit shop also. She used to sit in the shop from 10 am to 2 pm every day. The accused used to harass my sister and also said that he will kill her before her birthday,” the girl’s sister said.

The incident occurred on the same that a 22-year-old cab driver was arrested for allegedly killing his lover by slitting her throat in Delhi’s Dwarka area last week. He had suspected her of being in a relationship with someone else, police said.

A few weeks ago, the Delhi police arrested a 22-year-old gym trainer for allegedly stalking over 100 women on social media and sending obscene messages and video clips from fake accounts.