NEW DELHI: Tension prevailed in Mayur Vihar Phase III after ninth standard student Rajat Menon, 15, hailing from Kerala, was fatally assaulted by a pan shop owner and accomplices on suspicion of shop-lifting in the city on Wednesday. TV footage of the victim, lifeless on the bike, being carried from hospital, and the news of the horrific death, saw locals screaming for justice.
The delay in police action triggered minor violence in Mayur Vihar as locals took to the streets and vandalized the shop of the assailant. Shops in the market downed shutters as the area was brought under tight police surveillance. Rajat was a student of Salwan Public School. His father Unnikrishnan works for Reliance Communications as general manager. The family lives at Sunshine apartments in Mayur Vihar phase III. Elder brother is class XI student of the same school.
Rajat was returning from tuition around 6:30 pm on Wednesday when he was stopped by two pan shop owners at Mayur Vihar market. They alleged that he stole some item from the shop a few days back and took him to a friend’s house to check and add to their allegation. Four of the victim’s friends were then taken to Mandirwala park, behind the DDA market.
“In the park, the panwallahs beat up the boys to find out who had stolen the item from their shop. As they started beating, Rajat collapsed. Other boys fled the park. Seeing Rajat dumb, the pan shop owner and accomplice took him to a nearby hospital on their motorcycle," said a senior police official.
"The local hospital refused to admit the boy, claiming that the hospital was not equipped with a life-support system. Then the assailants rushed him to Lal Bahadur Shashtri hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. Leaving Rajat’s body, the accused fled the hospital," said a senior police official.
Rajat’s friends, who fled the scene, went to his house at Sunshine Apartment, and informed family members of the tragedy.
“We have procured CCTV footage that shows attackers taking Rajat to a private clinic on a bike. The video shows attackers leaving the clinic with the unconscious Rajat, seated between riders. We have also got the CCTV in which the boy was chased and caught by the pan vendor," said a senior police official.
However, relatives of the victim alleged that no action was initiated by the Delhi police to trace culprits even after the case was reported at police station.
The alleged attacker even opened his pan shop on Thursday morning. "Two teens have been apprehended in the case. Police has registered a FIR under IPC section 302 against the apprehended juveniles. The matter is under investigation. We will question victim’s friends to find out sequence of the case. We are gathering information from locals shopkeepers to find out role other persons in the case," said Rishi Pal, DCP (east)
He added that the body handed over to the family after the post mortem. No external injuries were found on victim’s body. The victim's viscera samples have been preserved by the police as doctors could not ascertain the cause of their death in the post mortem.
