Police said Shoaib was caught by family in the early hours of Friday and then assaulted with sticks and an iron rod.A day after a 23-year-old BMS student was beaten to death, allegedly by four members of a family in Saharanpur, police made the first arrest in the case. The police said Shoaib, the victim, allegedly scaled the wall of the house of the accused, to meet a woman. They said Shoaib was caught by family in the early hours of Friday and then assaulted with sticks and an iron rod.
“He was later taken by them to Rampur Maniharan police station, where they claimed he had broken into their house to commit theft. However, during questioning, he told police he was in a relationship with the woman,” said a senior officer.
“Both families were called to the police station and they compromised. But his condition worsened and he died in hospital,” the officer said.
On Saturday, Shoaib’s family said they were not aware of any such relationship. “There was no question of a relationship, he never had the time for it. They (the accused) fought with him all the time over petty issues. He just wanted to become a doctor,” his brother Shahid said. “He should have immediately been taken to the hospital. Doctors told us he died due to the beating.”
The police have denied these claims and said he was fine when he left the police station.
Shoaib’s family protested on Saturday and registered an FIR, naming the woman’s father Bobby, his two sons Aman and Sarang, and a relative, Manoj. While Aman has been arrested, the rest are on the run.
The woman’s aunt, the only person at the family’s home on Saturday, said she was not aware of the relationship, and that the woman had, in fact, “married someone last month”.
