In a grim reminder to the brutal death of North Eastern student Nido Tania recently, another racist attack on two professionals from Manipur at the Central Market in lajpat Nagar has come to fore. A 28-year-old Manipuri MNC executive and his young sister were beaten up and molested by some shopkeepers in the market where Nido Tania was beaten to death.
The incident occurred on Thursday evening after victim parked his motorbike in front of their shops. Angered, shopkeepers had an argument with the victims and later they thrashed and molested the victims.
However, learning from their past mistakes in the Nido Tania case, the Delhi Police immediately swung into action — registered a case and the accused, Akhilekh Sharma (45) and his friend Pankaj Sthis (30), were arrested. Charges of molestation, assault or criminal force on woman with intent to outrage her modesty, wrongful confinement, causing hurt were slapped against them at lajpat Nagar police station.
The police said that the victims are residents of South Delhi’s Amar Colony area and work in an MNC in Gurgaon. “On Thursday evening, the victim along with his 24-year-old young sister came on his motorbike in Central Market of lajpat Nagar to buy some gift for his sister. He parked his motorbike in front of bag shops of the accused Akhilekh Sharma and gift shop of Pankaj Sthis,” the officer added.
The victim was heading towards market after parking his motorbikes when the accused stopped him. They shouted at him and asked him to park his motorbike on the other side of road. “They were screaming at him, but the victim asked them to talk politely with him. They started abusing him and misbehaving with his sister,” a senior police officer said, adding that when the victim objected, they started pushing him.
In a written complaint to police, the victim alleged that the two had a heated argument with him. Accused Sharma allegedly began to abuse him and his sister too. “They entered into a heated argument which led to a scuffle. They started thrashing the victim and they pushed, slapped, punched in the face and kicked of the victim. They also molested and misbehaved with his young sister when she tried to intervene,” the officer added.
Some passersby made a call to the police control room (PCR) and informed them about the incident. “A police team rushed to the spot and the victim, who reportedly sustained injuries, along with his sister was taken to AIIMS. He discharged after a medical examination was conducted,” the officer added.