MUMBAI, AUGUST 13 A Manipuri girl’s throat was slit allegedly by an insane man at the Gateway of India on Saturday evening. Tourist Nga Kuimi Raleng (23) died on the spot.

The crowd there watched in silence as the chopper-wielding killer attacked the tourist’s friend Leisha Choan (20). The killer, Junaid Patel (25), was nabbed on the spot. He had earlier in the day attacked his father and a neighbour in Jogeshwari with the same chopper, police said.

As Raleng lay dying at the Gateway, no one came forward to help her and the bleeding Choan for 15 minutes until a young man named Salil burst out of the crowd and bundled Choan into a taxi and took her to hospital.

Raleng gave a few gasps and then lay still, witnesses said. A police van took her to G T Hospital, Crawford Market, where she was declared dead on arrival. Choan—stabbed on her forehead and right arm—is in a critical condition.

‘‘The motive of the attacker is not yet known. The man looks mentally unstable,’’ said Additional Commissioner of Police SP Yadav. A police source said Patel has been changing and retracting his statements every 15 minutes.

Around 5.40 pm the women were getting a photograph taken with the Gateway as background. Shiv Kumar Yadav, a car-park attendant who was just 20 feet away, recounted: ‘‘This person came from behind. He looked calm and composed. He pulled one of the girls by the hair from behind and slit her throat.’’

Sanjay Vishwakarma, a vendor said the two women had crossed the road from the Taj. ‘‘They fed the pigeons and walked towards the Gateway,’’ he said. ‘‘The next thing I heard is a loud shriek. I saw one of them fall with blood all over her. A person standing behind her was attacking the other girl.’’

The Indian Express photographer Ganesh Shirsekar was at The Taj and had seen Raleng and heard her talk over a cell-phone in the lobby at 5.40 pm.

‘‘She was speaking English. She looked as if she was waiting for someone,’’ said Shirsekar. ‘‘I then left the lobby. When I came out after five minutes, I saw the girl lying on the ground with blood all over her.’’