The Andheri court on Tuesday remanded Bikram Atwal, the man accused of murdering and attempting to rape a 23-year-old air hostess on September 3, to police custody for three days. “The victim and the accused frequently had verbal altercations several times. He held a grudge against the woman,” said a police officer.

During the scuffle, the woman managed to grab the sickle that was being wielded by the alleged killer and landed blows to his head and hand with the wooden handle. A police officer said, “If she had beaten him with some more force the story would have been different today.”