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Holi water balloon fight, protest, man's death: What's happening in Delhi's Uttam Nagar?
A girl from a Hindu family was throwing water balloons on people from her terrace. One of these balloons hit a Muslim woman, who took strong objection.
A little girl's throwing of a colour-filled water balloon and a woman's objection to it triggered a massive altercation, which led to the killing of a 26-year-old man in Delhi's Uttam Nagar area recently. The incident has sparked massive uproar in the locality, where two vehicles were torched by protestors and windows of two others were smashed.
As the unrest continues, heavy security deployment, including stationing of Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel, was seen in Uttam Nagar on Saturday morning.
The altercation began on the night of Holi on March 4 in Uttam Nagar's JJ colony. An 11-year-old girl from a Hindu family was reportedly throwing water balloons on people from her terrace. One of these balloons hit a Muslim woman, who took strong objection to it, which later escalated into a violent clash between two families.
As reported by HT earlier, three people from the Hindu family were injured after both sides assaulted each other and Tarun Kumar, 26, later succumbed to the injuries.
Tarun ‘waylaid’ by neighbours
Following his death on Thursday morning, a day after the violent altercation, Tarun's family alleged he was “waylaid” by the neighbours and assaulted with bats, sticks, and stones.
Tarun's family also said that they had apologised after the 11-year-old girl's balloon burst on the ground and water splashed the woman's burqa. “I apologised and even made the 11-year-old apologise. What else could we have done?," said Ramesh, Tarun's uncle.
According to the relative, Tarun came home half an hour after the argument and was “attacked” even before he could park his bike. Apart from Tarun, Ramesh and the victim's grandfather Mann Singh was also injured.
Past run-ins between families
Both families involved in the dispute hailed from Rajasthan. According to Singh, they have known each other since the late 1960s, when they lived in slums near Uttam Nagar before later moving to Hastsal Colony.
However, a senior police officer told HT on condition of anonymity that the families have always had fights and brawls over petty matters. “It’s not entirely a communal issue. The families have always fought over garbage, water, parking and other petty issues. They also get into physical fights and then sort out the issues later. We are still investigating from all angles,” the officer said.
Tarun's relative Ramesh also alleged previous confrontations with the same family. “This is not the first time, they attacked us during Holi around 12 years back.”
Vehicles were torched and roads were blocked in the Uttam Nagar locality after Hindu groups like Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad sought justice for Tarun and action against those responsible for his killing. A murder case has been registered after Tarun's death and eight arrests have so far been made in the case.
