‘Its her birthday today, hope she lives’: 19-year-old stabbed by youth in Delhi battles for life
“Kal meri gudiya ka birthday hai. I hope she lives to see it,” said Shobha in a shaky voice outside the ICU where her 19-year-old daughter, Vijaylaxmi, battled for her life.
Vijaylaxmi had been eagerly counting down the days to April 8 – her birthday. All week, she had been preparing for it: ordering new clothes online, picking out decorative lights to illuminate their modest home and planning how to make the day special. She had even told her mother she’d leave for home early on Sunday from the small shop in Sadar Bazar where she worked.
“Like every day, she left for work in the morning,” said Shobha. “She told us she was saving money to celebrate her birthday properly this year. We were all waiting for her to return home so that we could hear her talk all about it.”
Instead, bad news came through a call from an autorickshaw driver who had rushed Vijaylaxmi to the hospital. “When we reached the hospital, we found her bleeding all over the floor. They asked me to clean the floor,” Shobha said, her voice breaking. “The doctors told us she had been brutally attacked. Now people are showing us videos of the stabbing, of her blood on the road. I have no words.”
The assault victim lives with her 40-year-old mother Shobha, a 16-year-old brother Raghuvender and two sisters, aged 25 and 20 years. Their father had abandoned them when they were young, forcing their mother to take up domestic work to keep the family afloat. There was finally some happiness for them with the marriage of the younger sister a month ago. “The house was full of joy,” said the older sister. “We were finally doing okay.” Both the older sisters had to marry early. Vijaylaxmi herself remained determined to help the family. “We couldn’t afford school fees, so she had to drop out after Class VIII to start working and augment the family income,” the eldest sister said. “But Vijaylaxmi never let anything dim her light. She worked hard, loved dressing up, shopping and making Instagram videos. She always hoped something good would come out of it. She wanted to be a star and wasn’t afraid to put herself out there.”
Raghuvender said he had sensed something was wrong about his sister’s friendship. “I knew Amit liked her and I warned her to be careful. I never thought it would go this far,” he said. “They worked in nearby shops and had known each other for a year. She always said they were just friends, so I never pressed her. If I had known he was bothering her this much, I would’ve gone to police.”
