Man shot at over affair, girl’s brother arrested

In a daring attempt, a 22-year-old man was shot at four times during a panchayat meeting in a village near Pataudi on Wednesday morning for allegedly ‘falling in love’ with a girl of a neighbouring village. The victim is currently battling for life at a private hospital in the city.

In a daring attempt, a 22-year-old man was shot at four times during a panchayat meeting in a village near Pataudi on Wednesday morning for allegedly ‘falling in love’ with a girl of a neighbouring village. The victim is currently battling for life at a private hospital in the city.

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About 200 people were present when the incident took place at Triphada village.

Six persons have been booked for the crime while the main accused, the girl’s brother, has been arrested.

The victim, Harkesh Yadav, was friends with a girl belonging to Triphada village.

According to villagers, Harkesh, an electrician, had been warned a number of times against meeting the girl as he belonged to a different village, but he persisted with his “affair”.

He was brutally assaulted on Tuesday night as well after which his father called a Panchayat meeting to resolve the matter at local level.

“He was on his way back home on Tuesday night when a few villagers attacked him with sticks and damaged his motorcycle too. He suffered mild injuries. After discussing with my relatives, we went to Triphada village early morning and called the panchayat. I wanted to know why my son was assaulted," Karan Yadav, the victim's father, told HT.

None of the villagers intervened, he added.

“Harkesh was repeatedly warned against meeting the girl, but he did not budge. The villagers were unhappy as he was an outsider since he belonged to Daboda village," he added.

When his father tried to save him, he too was assaulted.

"I tried to save my son… When I covered him, three men started hitting me with sticks. My son was bleeding and writhing in pain, but I could not do anything,” his distraught father added.

“Two bullets were removed from the victim's body in an eight-hour-long surgery. One bullet entered his head while another ruptured his abdomen, damaging the intestines. His condition is critical,” said Dr. Nitin Arora, a surgeon at Orbit Hospital.

Inspector Narender Khatana said, "We have registered a case against six men. The main accused has been arrested. We are conducting raids to nab the rest of them."