Delhi: Drunken man bites off another’s ear in fight, swallows it

Two drunk men abused a 28-year-old driver and forced him to engage in a fist fight. When the victim tried to raise alarm, one of them bit his ear. Police say victim stable

A man reportedly bit off a part of another man’s ear and swallowed it in outer Delhi’s Sultanpuri area following an argument early on Tuesday, police said.

Two men were arrested for biting off a part of another man’s ear and swallowing it in Delhi’s Sultanpuri. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Police have arrested the suspect and his friend, who were found to be drunk at the time of the incident.

Police said they received a call around 1.30 am about two men assaulting a man and biting off his ear. When they went to the spot, they found that the complainant, Jitender Kumar, had been admitted to a hospital.

“Kumar was taking a late-night stroll at a lane near his house when two men, who were drunk, entered the same area. Seeing Kumar, the two men, who were later identified as Santosh (43) and Deepak (23), called out at him. Santosh started hurling abuses at Kumar,” said an investigator on the condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.

Kumar — a 28-year-old driver, who lives in Sultanpuri — told police that the two men first punched him and when he retaliated and asked them to leave the area, they started a fist fight.

“Kumar said they started thrashing him. Finding himself in a difficult situation, Kumar raised an alarm. Meanwhile, Deepak held him from behind and Santosh bit his ear,” the officer said. At least three centimetres of the ear cartilage was bitten off. The officer said the accused swallowed the piece of ear he had bitten.

The victim was admitted to a hospital. His condition was said to be stable, police said.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (outer) Rajender Singh Sagar said a case was registered under section 324 (Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).

Primary probe revealed that the victim had no personal enmity and the incident unfolded merely in a fit of rage, police said.

Police were checking CCTV footage to check if the fight was captured in any camera.

In a similar incident, a DTC bus driver allegedly bit off a finger of a 28-year-old man when a road rage turned violent on Deshbandhu Gupta Road in December 2015. The argument happened after the bus driver applied brakes and the victim, who was riding a scooter, escaped a collision. The victim then asked the driver to drive carefully, leading to an argument.