NEW DELHI: A man was assaulted, his wife was allegedly molested, and his son was stripped and beaten in full public view following a dispute over the ownership of a gym in east Delhi’s Laxmi Nagar area, police said.
The incident took place on Friday around 4 pm, a police official said. CCTV footage of the assault, which later went viral on social media, showed a man being stripped on the road and brutally thrashed by a group of people while he pleaded for mercy.
According to police, a case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and one of the accused has been arrested in connection with the incident. The woman lodged a detailed police complaint on the same day.
As per the complaint, the dispute stemmed from the ownership of a gym in the area. The complainant alleged that the gym’s caretaker, Satish Yadav alias Pintu Yadav, cheated the family and gradually took control of the commercial establishment, falsely claiming ownership despite having no legal rights. She told police that Yadav was hired only as a caretaker and was never given any ownership rights over the gym. She further claimed that she possessed all documents related to the gym’s ownership.
The complainant said that after Yadav began asserting control, repeated requests by the family for him to vacate the premises were met with aggressive behaviour, verbal abuse and threats, even before the January 2 incident.
In her complaint, the woman stated, “On January 2, there was water leakage in my house, due to which the entire house was flooded and there was a foul smell. I made several calls to him, but he did not respond. As the sewerage connection is located in the basement, I, along with my husband, went downstairs to check it.” She alleged that Satish arrived at the spot with his associates and immediately started beating them. “They dragged us from the gym gate, assaulted us there, and then continued beating us on the road. They pulled my hair, molested me, slapped me and kicked me,” she stated in complaint.
The complainant further alleged that her husband was then dragged inside the gym,disrobed, and brutally assaulted with a gym rod. “They threatened to finish him off,” she said. She added that when she tried to save her husband and ran towards the police station to seek help, some of the accused entered her house, dragged her son onto the road, disrobed him and assaulted him with shoes. “My son’s tooth was broken and he was hit on the head, after which he became dizzy. They threatened to kill him and disfigure his face,” she alleged.
Her husband, Rajesh Garg, also narrated the incident to the police. He alleged that the attack began when Satish Yadav got out of his vehicle and attempted to hit him, causing damage to a wall. “He pushed me, punched me three to four times and shoved me onto the stairs,” Rajesh said. “They kicked, thrashed and continued punching me. I was beaten with a rod inside the gym and lost consciousness due to the assault,” he further said.
Based on the complaint and preliminary findings, police registered a case under multiple sections of the BNS, including Sections 115(2), 126(2), 329, 333, 74, 79, 351(3) and 3(5), relating to assault, criminal trespass, molestation, criminal intimidation and joint liability.
Teams formed to trace & nab other accused: Cops
“Satish Yadav(main accused) has been arrested, while the other accused are at large. Multiple teams have been formed to trace and nab them,” a senior police officer said, adding that CCTV footage and viral videos are being examined to reconstruct the sequence of events.