Only three days remained for Holi but mood in Thakur Das's family was sombre. The family was grieving a young death.

The 65-year-old was sitting with his wife and younger brother in the balcony of his first-floor house. A heavy stone hit him. Another stone landed near his chair. He spotted two children on a nearby terrace, preparing to hurl more. An angry Thakur Das dashed to the house to confront their parents. It turned out to be a Muslim family living on rent.

Thakur says the parents did not take kindly to the complaint, and the two sides had a spat. A young man even caught him by his collar and tried to drag him inside a room, he says. Thakur left in panic. But much to his relief, the children stopped throwing stones.

Thakur Das was simply not prepared for what unfolded next. A mob turned up at his building with swords, bricks and stones, hurling abuses. He went downstairs and the mob pinned him to the ground. His brother rushed with a bathroom wiper and hit at the crowd, which injured a woman. Enraged, four men from the mob rushed upstairs with the weapons.

This correspondent has accessed several videos of the incident along with the related first information reports (FIRs).