New Delhi: What began as a simple splash of water during Holi celebrations turned fatal in Delhi‘s Uttam Nagar, where a 26-year-old man was beaten to death by a mob after a water balloon accidentally splashed on a woman from a neighbouring family.
Tarun, a digital marketing student who lived with his family in Uttam Nagar, was returning home on his bike after celebrating Holi with a friend when a group of 15 to 20 people allegedly stopped him and attacked him with iron rods, bricks, stones and other objects. He was rushed to hospital but did not survive.
According to Tarun’s uncle Tek Chand, the trouble started when an 11-year-old girl in the family was playing Holi on the terrace and threw a water balloon at her father standing below. The balloon missed and splashed water on a woman from the neighbouring family, who is from different community. “We apologised, but she didn’t listen and called her relatives, picking up a fight with us,” Tek Chand said, according to Times of India report.
He added that the matter had initially been resolved, but about an hour later the group returned and targeted Tarun. DCP Dwarka Kushal Pal Singh confirmed that the two groups, both originally from Rajasthan, belonged to different communities. Eight people in total were injured, three from one side and five from the other.
“We registered a case and arrested four adults and apprehended one juvenile. One of the injured, Tarun Kumar, died during treatment. So, we added Sec 103 to the FIR and added murder charges,” the DCP said.
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According to Tarun’s grandfather, Maan Singh, the woman allegedly began hurling abuses and picked a fight over the incident. He claimed that although the matter appeared to have subsided, members of the other family later gathered and allegedly assaulted Tarun when he was returning home after celebrating Holi.
“They thrashed Tarun brutally. When he was lying on the road, a big stone was thrown on his chest,” Singh alleged. Tarun was rushed to a hospital where he later died during treatment, police said.
“We also got to know that the fight stemmed up from throwing balloons, and we are investigating the matter. We have registered an FIR and apprehended some people. Further investigation is underway,” Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Niharika Bhatt told reporters.
(With Inputs from PTI)
