Cricket match turns fatal in Delhi's Tilak Nagar as blows fly across park, kill teen boy

An FIR has been registered under the section of murder of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and all three juveniles have been apprehended.

A 15-year-old boy was beaten to death by three minors following a dispute over a neighbourhood cricket match in west Delhi’s Tilak Nagar on Monday evening, police said on Tuesday, adding that all three juvenile accused have been apprehended.

Police said they are examining eyewitness accounts and awaiting the postmortem report. (Hindustan Times/File Image)

Case timeline

Deputy commissioner of police (west) Sharad Bhaskar said the incident took place around 7.22pm at Woodland Park in Tilak Nagar. Police said it began as a quarrel between two boys over playing cricket and quickly escalated into a physical altercation.

“A 12-year-old boy had an argument with the 15-year-old victim during the game. The two allegedly exchanged blows before dispersing. The younger boy then returned home and informed his cousins, aged 17 and 13, about the fight,” Bhaskar said, adding that a short while later, all three minors went looking for the 15-year-old.

“They confronted him again at the park, and a fresh scuffle broke out,” he said.

During the fight, blows were exchanged and the victim sustained injuries to his neck and head, police said. He collapsed on the spot and was rushed to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. An FIR has been registered under the section of murder of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and all three juveniles have been apprehended. Further proceedings are being carried under the Juvenile Justice Act.

Police said they are examining eyewitness accounts and awaiting the postmortem report.

The victim, a resident of the area, was one of four brothers. His father works as a tea vendor. Neighbours told police that the boys often played cricket together at the park in the evenings. The victim’s 19-year-old brother said four to five boys had come to their house around 6.30pm looking for him, but his brother was not home.

“A little later, a friend called me and said my brother was lying injured and unconscious on the street outside our house,” he said. The brother alleged that locals told him the boys had ganged up and beaten the 15-year-old for nearly half an hour until he lost consciousness. “My friend and a few others tried to stop them, but they continued to beat my brother. Eventually, my friend and others managed to catch one of them while the rest fled,” he said.

The family has demanded that the accused be tried as adults.

The family said they protested outside the police station on Monday night, alleging that officers did not initially take the matter seriously. Responding to the allegation, DCP Bhaskar said, “A murder case was registered and all three minors were apprehended immediately.”