NEW DELHI: ‘It’s a calculated conspiracy’, ‘they crushed his lungs’, said the family of a 31-year-old software engineer who was allegedly beaten to death by his wife’s relatives in Delhi, claiming that the attack was a pre-planned attempt to kill him.Vinay Gupta, who worked at Adobe, was allegedly assaulted at his home in Laxmi Park, Nihal Vihar, on Friday following a matrimonial dispute.Police have detained four people in connection with the case.
‘It was just a minor matter’
Gupta’s father, Premchand, said the dispute was minor and that he initially believed the relatives had come to discuss the matter.“It was just a minor domestic matter. There was nothing major about it. They arrived, and I thought, ‘Relatives have come; we’ll talk.’ I took them upstairs. I was offering them water and such.”“Then my son arrived. As soon as he did, they all pounced on him… It happened right in front of me. They even shoved me. I have a fracture in my thumb… They got married three and a half years ago and had two children.”
‘Crushed his lungs’
Gupta’s mother, Renu, alleged that his wife’s family attacked him soon after arriving at the house.“There was some minor ongoing dispute that I wasn’t even aware of. I don’t know why she left early in the morning, leaving the two children behind, to go fetch her brothers.”“My husband came in and said that the relatives have arrived. I tried to offer them water, but they said, ‘We don’t want your water.’ They immediately grabbed my son.”“My husband kept saying, ‘Don’t raise your hand. Let’s talk calmly.’ But the older brother, and that stout younger brother of hers, attacked.”“The older brother grabbed my son by the hair and threatened to rip it all out. I kept trying to pull him away, but that huge, burly man shoved me aside and threw me down.”“He squeezed my son’s throat with all his might and then slammed him onto the ground.”“A neighbor even witnessed it from the window, seeing both brothers stomping on my son’s chest, crushing his lungs…”“I grabbed a stick to defend him, but it was snatched away by an uncle who had come with them. They beat my son and left.”Gupta’s mother also alleged that the security cameras were not working at the time of the assault.“The security cameras happened to be turned off at that exact moment. I don’t know if it was the daughter-in-law’s plan or if they had plotted it beforehand. I can’t say for sure.”“We had absolutely no intention of getting into a fight. Minor domestic squabbles happen all the time, but they came there with a calculated, sinister plan. They came with the intent to kill my son.”
‘Calculated conspiracy’
Gupta’s brother, Pradeep, said he reached the spot after the assault and found his brother in a critical condition.“When I went there, I saw that after the scuffle, the young man was lying there in a critical condition. If he had been taken to the hospital half an hour earlier, he might have survived.”“I can’t even comprehend the nature of the beating. Only a cunning, malicious person could understand it. We might slap someone on the cheek or hit them on the leg, but the way they hit him.”“He passed away on the way… The girl’s father, her two brothers, her sister-in-law, and the girl herself were all involved…”“I know the young man well. He never spoke rudely to anyone. It seems like a calculated conspiracy. The assault was so brutal.”
4 detained
Police said the dispute between Gupta and his wife began on Friday morning. His wife allegedly called her family, who then reached Gupta’s residence in Nihal Vihar and allegedly assaulted him.Gupta suffered serious injuries and later succumbed to them. Police said four people allegedly involved in the attack have been identified and detained.A case under Sections 103(1), relating to murder, and 3(5), relating to common intention, of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) is being registered.Gupta had married the 31-year-old woman from Budh Vihar about three-and-a-half years ago. The couple have four-month-old twins, a boy and a girl. His wife is a homemaker.The detained people are being questioned about their alleged roles in the assault. Police are also probing the circumstances leading to the attack and the events that preceded the dispute.
