NEW DELHI: A 65-year-old man was stabbed to death and five others, including a 40-year-old woman, were injured during a clash between two families in northwest Delhi’s Bharat Nagar on Friday night.
Police received a control room alert about a stabbing at Patthar Wala Bagh in Wazirpur JJ Colony at 10.58pm. “A dispute over children escalated into violence,” said Bhisham Singh, DCP (North-West). “Radhe Shyam, 65, was stabbed and declared dead at Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital.” The DCP ruled out any communal angle to the violence.
The brawl between two families began as a minor quarrel between an eight-year-old boy and his friends. But it quickly degenerated into stone pelting, leaving a broken scooter, damaged furniture, and tragically, a man dead.
According to the Shyam’s wife, Kamla, 63, “The fight started as a small argument among some kids and my grandson. But by 5pm, adults were screaming and abusing each other. Everything escalated so fast — someone started pelting stones at our house, even damaging our fridge. Things calmed down for a while, but by 7pm, someone had again vandalised our scooter.” She said those involved were her sons, Kamal, 35, and Gautam, 20, and the husband of Munni, Mohammad Jamal, 53, and their son, Mohammad Irshad, 20. Munni, 40, also suffered knife wounds.
The local residents and Shyam’s daughter-in-law, Nandini, 30, claimed to have repeatedly called police when all this was happening. “I first phoned police at 7.30pm to report the situation, but no one came,” maintained Nandini. “I tried again around pm, but got no response. By then, we knew things would worsen into the night. Regardless of who was at fault, the women and children were terrified and had no idea how to stop the chaos,” Nandini said.
A weeping Kamla said, “After returning from work, my husband stepped in to break up the fight between my sons and Munni’s son and husband. I will never forget that moment when, with no cops around and no one intervening, he tried to prevent the use of the knife, only to be stabbed himself. He bled to death right in front of my eyes. He was only trying to stop the fight.”
Munni’s account of the event differed. “I tried to stop the fight but was attacked instead. Someone hit me on the back of the head with a helmet so hard that I couldn’t even stand properly. There was no one to help me. My husband and son were stabbed and are now in critical condition in hospital,” she claimed.
She also made counterclaims about how the violence unfolded. But both sides blamed the other for the escalation of passions. However, they agreed on one thing; the 65-year-old had only intervened only to stop the skirmish. “He was not at fault, and what happened to him wasn’t fair. He didn’t deserve to die this way,” admitted Munni.
Police have said that the stabbing was reported at 10.58pm. However, Shyam’s family claimed to have called the cops at 8.02pm, having dialled 112 to report the rising tension and stone-pelting. “We tried calling every number possible and then we went to the police station ourselves, but still no one came with us. If only they had taken us seriously, nobody would have got hurt,” sobbed Kamla.
A police officer responded to this claim and asserted, “The family did come to the police station and the matter between the two parties was resolved and they went back home. It was after this that all this happened.” A case of murder and attempt to murder has been registered at Bharat Nagar police station. Further investigation in the case is under way.
