The wife and daughter of the accused, who along with his sons allegedly killed a man for objecting to indecent remarks made by them, have been held for questioning, the police said on Wednesday.

“An eyewitness said the mother kept instigating his son and husband to kill the man while the daughter gave her brother a knife for the same. We are waiting for the victim’s daughter to record her statement as she is an eyewitness,” said an officer.

The victim who dealt with LED business was staying in the locality for the last seven generations and the family has no criminal history. The accused family had taken two rooms on rent in the locality around 12 years ago and used to do odd jobs to meet their needs, said, locals.

Basai Darapur, a village located near Moti Nagar metro station, has a population of around 35,000 and majority of the landowners are Tyagi’s and Rajput’s. The locality has 30 houses belonging to the minority community. The village has no history of communal violence.

“People coming from outside [tenants] are polluting the area. We have called a panchayat on Friday to instruct all landowners to not rent houses to any minority community. If they do then they will be boycotted by us,” said Anand Tyagi, a local.

Meanwhile, the locals blamed the sale of drugs and consumption of liquor in open. They cited this as the prime reason behind the Monday incident. “A visitor will find several groups of young boys wandering in the locality with drugs. These boys often pass comments on girls passing through the area. Women are not even safe outside their house,” said Vinod Tyagi, a local.

Locals alleged that there is an infamous DDA land in the locality, which is a den of the anti-social element. “Even policemen refuse to enter the area fearing attack by anti-social elements armed with a pistol or knife. We have lost trust in the police. Criminals are openly peddling drugs and liquor due to their collusion with the police,” said Vikky Singh, a local.

Monika Bhardwaj, DCP (West) has refuted the allegations. “We have not received any PCR call from the area regarding the sale of drug or consumption of liquor in open. We have been informed about the DDA land by locals just after the incident. We ensure no such activity takesa place in the area,” said Ms. Bhardwaj.