Man in Phantom of the Opera mask and wig stabs ex-girlfriend to death

London, Sept.24 : A man in a Phantom of the Opera-style mask and wig stabbed his ex-girlfriend to death, injured her best friend and turned his knife on himself in a gruesome attack in East London. The ex-girlfriend, a 23-year-old Asian woman whose name has not yet been released, died at the scene in an office belonging to St George's College in Plaistow.

According to The Times, she was found partially clothed with stab wounds to the chest and neck.

Scotland Yard said her friend, who is believed to have worked with her as a receptionist at the private college for international students, was injured in the attack but managed to escape and call for help. According to witnesses, she ran out of the building screaming: "He's killing her."

When police and ambulance services arrived at the scene just after 6 p.m. yesterday, the knifeman tried to kill himself.

Malik Ijaz, 40, who runs a builders merchants underneath the college, said that the knifeman continued stabbing his ex-girlfriend even after she was unconscious.

"It was the worst thing I have ever seen in my life," he said. "I saw something so brutal and something I can't explain," he added.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed today that they had arrested a 29-year-old man. He remains under police guard in hospital, where he is believed to be in a stable condition.

ANI