Delhi’s Mayur Vihar Phase III: 14-year-old boy dies after scuffle with two brothers, also ‘minors’

Read | ‘Rajat wanted to be a space scientist, he was good at football’

Rajat, who studied in Class IX in Salwan Public School, is survived by his parents and elder brother. His father, Unnikrishnan Menon, is a general manager with a private company and the family lives in Sunshine Apartments in Mayur Vihar Phase III. The father of the two brothers, said to be in their teens, apprehended in the case runs a paan kiosk (betel shop) in the DDA market of the area.

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Police have recovered CCTV footage in which Rajat can be seen parking his scooty near the paan kiosk. Footage also shows Rajat being taken to hospital by the two brothers, one of whom is also a student of Class IX, said sources. Police said the incident happened between 6 pm and 10 pm Wednesday. Rajat had left home to go to a snooker club. He reached the paan kiosk, where he met two of his friends, said police.

Read | They can’t kill anybody, they themselves rushed the boy to hospital, said family of two accused

The father of one of Rajat’s friends who was with him Wednesday evening told The Indian Express Thursday, “On seeing them, the teenaged son of the kiosk’s owner asked Rajat about a ‘thing’ they had reportedly taken away. He asked them to return that ‘thing’. Rajat told him he had seen the ‘thing’ with a boy in the locality.”

Rajat Menon

He added, “Rajat and his friends took the paan kiosk owner’s son and his brother to the house of the boy, who denied having that ‘thing’. Scared, Rajat pointed towards my son, who also denied having it. The brothers got furious and accused Rajat of misleading them. On the way back to their kiosk, they took Rajat and his friends to a park, where they started threatening them. Soon, it turned into a scuffle and they punched Rajat several times on his face and chest, due to which he collapsed.”

After Rajat collapsed, his friends and the brothers tried to revive him, said sources. But when he did not wake up, his friends ran away, the sources added. The brothers then took Rajat to a clinic nearby on a motorcycle, and doctors there referred him to Metro hospital, said the sources. The brothers took him on the same motorcycle to Metro hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead, the sources added.

After the paan kiosk of the accused was set on fire by a mob, a large number of police personnel were deployed in the area to maintain peace.

By this time, Rajat’s friends had informed his father about the incident, said sources. While Rajat’s parents were searching for him, they received a call from the hospital, the sources added.

On the ‘thing’ the paan kiosk owner’s son wanted, DCP Rishi Pal said, “Facts are yet to be verified and corroborated.” Police said no external injury was found on Rajat’s body during preliminary medical examination.