Five of family stab neighbour to death in southeast Delhi over toilet row

A family attacked neighbors over a toilet dispute in Govindpuri, killing one and injuring another. Five accused, including a minor, have been arrested.

Five members of a family attacked their neighbours in a row over a common toilet, killing a 24-year-old and severely injuring his 22-year-old brother on Friday night in Govindpuri, police said. The accused, including a minor, were held early Saturday and booked in a murder case, they said.

A view of the shared washroom. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

According to police, the control room was informed at 12.07am about two sets of neighbours beating each other up and three people being taken to a hospital. Upon reaching the hospital, police were informed that Sudheer Saxena died, his brother Prem Saxena was in the intensive care unit and a third person, 20-year-old Sagar, was discharged after treatment.

“They (neighbours) share a common toilet. On Friday night, a 16-year-old resident used the toilet and didn’t flush. When Sudheer Saxena and his brother saw this, they objected to it and raised the concern with the boy’s parents. However, this led to an argument and the accused stabbed the three men,” a senior police officer said.

Police said the victims and accused lived on the same floor of a building on Street 6 of Govindpuri. They said that in the incident, Saxena suffered stab wounds to his chest, face and scalp, and Prem Saxena suffered wounds all over his body.

A relative of the victims, Sanjeev Saxena, who lives in the vicinity, said Prem Saxena arrived at his residence with injuries around 1am. “Four others and I rushed him to the hospital. He managed to run to my house but Saxena was already down, on the road. Police took him and Sagar to the hospital,” Sanjeev Saxena said.

Another neighbour, Sagar Malik, 35, a resident of Govindpuri, said that their parents do not live in Delhi. “Saxena used to work as a goods loader and Prem Saxena is currently unemployed. They had two more siblings but they died in an accident this year.”

On Saturday afternoon, chief minister Atishi met the family members of the victims.