On August 21, 2021, 20-year-old college student Nandita Saikia was attacked near a bus stand in Dhemaji, Assam, allegedly by Rintu Sharma, a 30-year-old college library worker who had repeatedly proposed marriage and harassed her after she refused him. Sharma allegedly followed Nandita and her friend Kashmina with a dao, attacked Kashmina's father Devdatta and Kashmina, and then repeatedly struck Nandita. Nandita suffered severe head, neck, chest, and hand injuries, entered a coma, and died on August 25, 2021. Police reportedly arrested Sharma after he surrendered at the scene. A Dhemaji court reportedly sentenced him to death in August 2025, with further High Court and Supreme Court proceedings still expected.
Country: India
State/Province: Assam, India
City/Region: Dhemaji
Incident Type: Murder
Relationship Status: Rejected proposal
Relationship Duration: Approximately 1 year (reported period of harassment and pursuit)
Incident Date: Aug. 21, 2021
Primary reported outcome: Homicide
Reported self-harm outcome: No suicide or attempt reported
Reported sequence: Order not reported / unclear
Additional victims reported: 2
Additional victim events:
Relationship Origins:
Relationship Stages:
Contributing Factors:
Red Flags:
Motives:
Relationship Outcomes:
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How the relationship or connection began.
Approximately 1 year (reported period of harassment and pursuit)
Important relationship phases recorded for this case.
Reported red flags or early concern points.
Contributing factors and possible motives from the available sources.
2021-08-21
Recorded relationship or case outcome.
Romantic rejection, stalking, and retaliatory violence
The source describes a one-sided pursuit rather than a mutual romantic relationship. Rintu allegedly used his workplace access to obtain Nandita's contact and household information, repeatedly contacted her, approached her family, and continued after explicit refusals. The reported pattern escalated from unwanted proposals and harassment to alleged planning, pursuit, weapon use, and homicide.
Police reportedly identified Rintu Sharma at the scene, negotiated with him for approximately one and a half hours, and took custody of the dao. His yellow shirt and phone, along with Nandita's phone, library card, identification card, and helmet, were reportedly collected for forensic examination. Devdatta and Kashmina reportedly went to the police station to file an FIR. The source says approximately 41 witnesses were involved and that a video recorded at the scene became important evidence. A Dhemaji court reportedly sentenced Rintu Sharma to death in August 2025 under Sections 324, 37, and 302 as described by the source. The source also says High Court and Supreme Court proceedings remained ahead, so the final legal status is not established here.
Early family members did not know what had happened because Nandita's distress call ended abruptly and Devdatta did not answer repeated calls. The attacker initially appeared as an unidentified man in a yellow shirt. Police later identified him as Rintu Sharma after Anil Sharma recognized him. The source contains inconsistent references to Nandita's age and some names, including occasional narration slips, so those details should be verified against official records.
Nandita reportedly rejected Rintu Sharma's repeated proposals and told him to stop contacting and following her. The source says he continued messaging, calling, harassing her at the college, and approaching her family, while allegedly interpreting the family's refusal as humiliation and betrayal. On August 21, 2021, he reportedly obtained a dao, waited near the college, followed Nandita, Kashmina, and Devdatta to a bus-stand area, and attacked Devdatta and Kashmina before repeatedly striking Nandita. Nandita was hospitalized, transferred to a larger hospital, and died in a coma four days later. Scene video, eyewitness accounts, medical and postmortem findings, alleged admissions at the scene, and forensic items were reported as connecting the accused to the incident.
The reported risk indicators were persistent unwanted contact, stalking and harassment, access to personal information through a workplace role, family confrontation, perceived humiliation after rejection, threats, weapon acquisition, surveillance of the victim's movements, and deliberate preparation for an attack. The source does not establish whether Nandita or her family made a prior police complaint or received protective intervention before the homicide.
The source illustrates how repeated unwanted pursuit can escalate when refusals are reframed as humiliation, betrayal, or entitlement. Reported warning signs included persistent calls and messages, following, workplace misuse of personal information, family pressure, repeated harassment, threats, weapon preparation, and monitoring of the victim's movements. The account is source-limited and should not be treated as a clinical explanation or as proof beyond the reported investigation and court proceedings.
The most important reported early signals were repeated unwanted proposals, calls, WhatsApp messages and SMS, harassment at the college, following, obtaining Nandita's personal details through the library, and approaching her family after she blocked him.
The reported clues included eyewitness accounts from the public, the scene video, Rintu's presence with the dao, his statements while surrounded, the yellow shirt with blood stains, his phone, Nandita's phone and library materials, the helmet, medical findings, and postmortem injuries.
The source presents the eyewitness video and approximately 41 witness accounts as important evidence. It also reports forensic examination of blood-stained clothing, phones, the helmet, and other collected items, as well as medical and postmortem findings. The exact forensic results are not fully provided.
Junali reportedly heard Nandita repeatedly calling 'Maa' during a distress call before the line disconnected. Devdatta reportedly described the attack after reaching the hospital. Bystanders reportedly chased or surrounded the attacker and recorded video. ASI Anil Sharma reportedly heard Rintu say that he had killed Nandita and that she had ruined his life. The source does not provide independent verbatim statements from all witnesses.
Follow-up reporting changed the understanding from an unidentified roadside attack to an alleged targeted attack linked to Rintu Sharma's prolonged unwanted pursuit of Nandita. Police reportedly identified his workplace connection, collected physical and digital evidence, and connected the attack to earlier proposals, harassment, and alleged planning. The later report of a death sentence added a court outcome, while appellate proceedings remained unresolved.
The source does not provide the complete official charge sheet, full forensic results, exact court order, or final appellate outcome. It also does not establish whether Nandita or her family previously reported the harassment, whether any protective measures were sought, or the precise legal interpretation of the cited sections. Age references and some narration details are inconsistent.