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Suspected of theft, 18-year-old homeless man beaten to death by two men in Delhi
Police said the two men claimed that the victim stole their cycle cart. However, they could not provide police with any evidence to prove their accusation, said police. They were both arrested.
An 18-year-old homeless man was killed after he was beaten up allegedly by two men over suspicion of theft in central Delhi’s Paharganj on Wednesday night. The crime took place even as a policeman tried to stop the attackers, police said.
The two men — identified by the police as the owner of a catering and tent shop, Rohit Kumar, and his employee, Sonu Rai — continued kicking and punching the homeless man even in the presence of the officer, police said.
Police said the two men claimed that the victim stole their cycle cart. However, they could not provide police with any evidence to prove their accusation, said police. They were both arrested.
A case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under section 304 of Indian Penal Code was registered at the Paharganj police station on a complaint by the policeman, the sole eyewitness to the crime. The homeless man identified himself to the police as Shibu before his death.
The policeman said he reached the scene after he received a call at 11am that two men were thrashing a man in Multani Dandha. The officer said the man was severely wounded by the time he arrived.
“The injured man told me that he was thrashed by the tent house owner and his employee. At this, the shop owner, Rohit Kumar, and his employee, Sonu Rai, said that anybody caught stealing in their home would meet the same fate,” the policeman said in his complaint.
The officer said Kumar and Rai kicked the victim, who was lying on the road, in front of him. “When I objected, they told me that I would react similarly if someone would steal something from my house,” the policeman said in the complaint.
Deputy commissioner of police (central) Mandeep Singh Randhawa said the policeman rushed the wounded man to Sucheta Kriplani Hospital, where he was admitted. “The alleged attackers were taken into custody and later arrested. The injured man succumbed to his injuries around 2.30am,” said Randhawa.
An investigating officer said that Shibu’s allegation would be used as his dying declaration against them. “We have not been able to trace his family. We have uploaded Shibhu’s photographs and other details on zonal integrated police network so that someone can claim his body. Locals told us that Shibu lived on pavements near New Delhi Railway Station. His body will be cremated if nobody claims his body in the next 72 hours,” the officer added.
Social workers, whoever, said that Delhi’s 50,000 homeless are vulnerable to accusations of theft and that they have no resources to fight legal battles. “It’s a general perception in our society that those who are homeless remain involved in crimes for their livelihood. As homeless people are vulnerable and have no resources to fight legal battle, police of late book them for petty crimes. Last year, a homeless man was arrested for stealing a pair of slippers. All stakeholders of the society should be sensitised about homeless people and the difficulties they face in their life,” Sunil Kumar Aledia, director of Centre for Holistic Development (CHD), an organisation that works for homeless community.
