Accused came drunk, asked for liquor during b’day party; refusal led to fight

My husband had no enmity with anyone. He was doing his job well and we were happy together. Vishal, who lives few houses away, gets drunk frequently and goes around the streets harassing people.

Just a few hours before his death in the early hours of Tuesday, 34-year-old Anil was celebrating his eldest daughter’s twelfth birthday in southeast Delhi’s Dakshinpuri.

He had taken a break from work to celebrate the day with his family. The party was going on smoothly. His in-laws, cousins and distant relatives had also come to his house to celebrate the occasion. But around midnight, when people had started to leave the party, a scuffle with a neighbour changed the mood of the gathering and also the life of the family forever.

Vishal (22), one of the neighbours living few houses away on the same street, allegedly came in a drunken state and asked Anil for liquor over which a scuffle broke out between the two men. At about 12.30 a PCR call was made and the police took both the men to Ambedkar Nagar police station, where Vishal stabbed Anil repeatedly with a file poker, police said.

Anil died due to the stab injuries. The 12-year-old birthday girl, Angel, has gone quiet. When Hindustan Times visited Anil’s house, Angel was sitting in a corner, mourning her father’s death surrounded by grieving family members.

Anil is survived by his wife and three children — two daughters and one son.

Florence, Anil’s mother-inlaw, said that his second child Sophia (6), is unable to understand where her father is. Aryan (2), his youngest child, is being taken care of by his relatives as his wife is in a state of shock.

When the news of his death reached the neighbourhood, a crowd of angry locals gathered outside accused Vishal’s house and damaged his bike. Some people also smashed the flower pots kept outside his house.

Vishal’s family had allegedly locked the house and run away after they learnt of his arrest, neighbours said.

Locals alleged that Vishal is a habitual drunkard and always created nuisance in the area. Four days ago, he had allegedly damaged Anil’s bike too.

“My husband had no enmity with anyone. He was doing his job well and we were happy together. Vishal, who lives few houses away, gets drunk frequently and goes around the streets harassing people. My husband never interacted with him but Vishal damaged my husband’s bike four days ago. That time too, my husband didn’t take any action against him,” said Lovely, Anil’s wife.