Man suspects neighbour of having an affair with his wife, stabs him with sword

Listening to idle gossip has landed a 43-year-old Titwala resident behind bars. Believing neighbours who told him that his wife was having an affair with another neighbour, Bala Dalvi attacked Santosh Kolhekar, 45, with a sword in the middle of a marketplace on Sunday. Kolhekar survived the ordeal, while Dalvi was promptly arrested by the police.

Santosh Kolhekar

For the past year, Dalvi's neighbours kept telling him that his wife was in a relationship with Kolhekar, a vegetable vendor by profession. Dalvi would glare angrily at Kolhekar whenever they passed each other on the road. On Sunday, Dalvi went looking for Kolhekar with a sword hidden inside a bamboo stick. He first went to Kalyan market and on not finding Kolhekar there, went to Vasind market near the railway station. As soon as he spotted him, Dalvi whipped out the sword and started attacking Kolhekar. There were a lot of people in the market, but nobody came forward to help Kolhekar, and instead stood around shooting the incident on their phones. Dalvi had also warned onlookers that he would attack them as well if they intervened. When Kolhekar fell to the ground, Dalvi presumed he was dead and left. Some people then called the police.

Bala Dalvi

Senior inspector Gangaram Walvi from Vasind police and his team reached the spot and took Kolhekar to hospital. The doctors there told the cops that Kolhekar was still breathing and had 8-10 sword injuries on his body. Walvi said that Dalvi had been looking for Kolhekar for the past eight days and had specially got the sword made to attack him. Dalvi was booked on Sunday evening for attempt to murder and other sections of the Arms Act.

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