75-year-old beaten to death by drunk son for not filling up the water tank Neighbours stayed silent, did not help

A 75-year-old retired government employee has been allegedly beaten to death by his alcoholic son for not filling up the water tank at their residence in Bindapur in southwest Delhi.

Though most neighbours preferred to stay indoors, a couple of locals, who tried to rescue the elderly man, Ram Kumar, said his son warned them against interfering.

Though the accused – 40-yearold Chetan Kumar – came to his senses and rushed his father to a nearby private hospital soon afterwards, it was already a little too late. Doctors declared him dead on arrival.

Chetan was arrested after his 14-year-old daughter told police that he was responsible for the crime. The accused’s 12-year-old son was also present at the time of the incident.

Kumar, a retired MTNL lineman, owned a four-storey building at a congested locality in Bindapur’s Khushi Ram Park area.

His alcoholic son, Chetan, had gained notoriety in the locality as somebody who harassed women while returning home drunk. He used to drive an e-rickshaw for a living.

Several neighbours alleged that Chetan assaulted his wife frequently, forcing her to approach the Delhi Police’s women’s cell.

“His wife started living separately with their youngest son around two months ago,” said a senior police officer.

In the absence of his wife, Chetan allegedly forced his father to do the household chores and take care of his two children. “Chetan would abuse his father and threaten to beat him up every time he failed to do work around the house,” alleged Payal, a neighbour.

Chetan Kumar abusing his 75-year-old father in an inebriated state had become an everyday sight for many residents of Khushi Ram Park in southwest Delhi’s Bindapur that they would either open their windows or walk to their doorsteps to witness the drama, never bothering to intervene.

So, when 40-year-old Chetan began beating his father late on Friday evening for failing to fill the water tank, the neighbours decided to watch the drama from a distance. It was only when the elderly man’s cries turned shrill that a couple of neighbours decided to step in.

But they backed off when Chetan told them to keep out of his “family matter”.

In the recent past, this is the second case of a person being killed in Delhi while neighbours stayed aloof thinking it was a domestic matter. Just three weeks ago, a man beheaded his wife in East Delhi’s Madhu Vihar even as neighbours ignored the woman’s cries for help.

Senior police officers attributed this lack of response to an “insensitive” attitude. “Many people think these fights are an everyday affair in those homes and decide not to interfere. They tend to trivialise the violence as domestic issues,” said Dependra Pathak, special commissioner of police.

In the latest case, neighbours have claimed that Chetan was a “dangerous” man who always carried a knife. “He was in the habit of harassing women in our locality after returning home drunk. We would always keep him at a distance. We stay in our homes when he fights with his family,” said Payal.

When HT visited the locality, almost all the neighbours present there knew about what had happened, but would keep pointing to others when asked if they intervened. “A few men tried to stop Chetan from beating his father, but he told us it was his family matter,” said Rajni, another neighbour.