Hawkers lynch man after he refused to purchase headphone

New Delhi: A man, identified as Mohammad Qari Mohammad Owais, was brutally lynched to death after he refused to buy a headphone from hawkers outside the exit gate of Old Delhi Railway Station on the night of 26 August. Owais was a resident of Kandhla in Shamli district. He was rushed to Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital, Delhi but was declared brought dead. The police has said that the scuffle was triggered by an argument over a pair of headphones between the deceased and two hawkers and that there is no communal angle.

It is said that the victim asked the price of the headphones but was leaving without buying. This irked the hawkers and they ganged up and started abusing Owais. They later surrounded him and started beating him. Owais later fell on the pavement. The police later identified the hawkers. "The two hawkers have been identified as Lallan and Ayub alias Sarfraj. Both have been arrested," Harendra Singh, Additional DCP North said. One eyewitness said, "The boy was assaulted brutally by the hawkers and they also twisted his hands. He fell down later on the pavement and did not get up".

"Owais was the classmate of my brother. The police then contacted by brother through Owais mobile phone who later informed me. He was the resident of Kandhla in UP. When I came here he was already dead," said Mubarak Badri. "We have registered a case under 304 ( culpible homicide not amounting to murder) under the IPC and have handed over the body to the family of the deceased," said Additional DCP North Harendra Singh. The hawkers in the areas like the bus terminals and railway stations and several tourist spots where the floating population is seen are often seen engaging into a fight with the commuters in case they fail to buy the product and move away just after aking the price.