Anmol had thrown himself on his father to protect him

By: Somreet Bhattacharya and Avinash SVS

NEW DELHI: When Dhruv Tyagi and his son Anmol were being dragged out to the lane outside their house and being stabbed, a crowd stood unmoved, clicking videos of the assault. Eyewitnesses said that the accused, Shamsher Alam and his father Jehangir , kept kicking the two men until the Tyagis fell unconscious. “Anmol kept shouting for help, but no one stepped forward,” alleged Yash Tyagi, nephew of the elder Tyagi.

Having stabbed the two men and left them bleeding, Alam and Jehangir also brazenly walked to the police station to file a complaint of molestation against their victims, accusing them of misbehaving with their family members. However, when they discovered that the police had already reached the incident site and were questioning eyewitnesses, they tried to flee from the area.

Yash said that Anmol had thrown himself on his father to protect him from the attack of the Alam, his father and his cousins. “They kept raining blows on his head and body even after he lost consciousness,” said Yash.

The accused live on the ground floor of a house adjacent to the Tyagis’. Jehangir earlier owned a small business, but after its failure, he is currently out of a job. Alam is notorious in the area for being a goon, according to locals.

The local residents said this wasn’t the first time that Alam had got into a fight. “If anyone from our block pulled him up for misbehaviour, Alam would return with friends to threaten or attack them,” revealed a neighbour.

Dhruv Tyagi owned a few shops in Basai Darapur village and lived in a joint family with his brothers. The family has been residents in the locality for the past two decades. “It was in his nature to stand up for his family and this cost him his life,” said Amit Tyagi, another nephew. “He was respected among the neighbours, and yet no one came forward to help him when he was being stabbed to death.”

The elder Tyagi died on Monday afternoon. His body was handed over to the family in the evening and cremated. Anmol was released from hospital, but was readmitted on Monday night after some of his wounds started bleeding. Relatives disclosed that the inconsolable youngster has been suffering frequent moments of rage since Sunday .

