Manipuri musician died of massive internal bleeding after assault in Delhi: Post-mortem report
'It's become fashion for powerful people to be violent': Rahul vows justice for slain Manipuri musician
New Delhi: Manipuri musician Chongtham Vikram Singh died of massive internal bleeding caused by severe physical trauma to his chest and abdomen after he was assaulted by a group of men in southeast Delhi.
54-year-old Manipuri musician Chongtham Vikram Singh was assaulted by a group of men after objecting to late-night disturbance and noise outside his home in Kilokari village, southeast Delhi.
According to police, the attackers kicked and punched the musician, repeatedly hitting him on the chest and abdomen after he fell to the ground.
Dr Sudhir Gupta, Chief of Forensic Medicine at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), said Chongtham Vikram Singh died due to severe physical assault to his chest and abdomen, which resulted in massive internal bleeding.
The AIIMS post-mortem report found fractures of the first to 11th ribs on the left side and the sixth to ninth ribs on the right side, along with bleeding and blood clots around the fractures. A laceration to the spleen was also found.
Delhi Police have arrested seven men and apprehended a juvenile in connection with the case. The accused have been identified as Bharat Kumar, 19, Pramod, 26, Ramzan Khan, 22, Deepanshu, 21, Mohan Vishwakarma, 32, Vijay, 36, and Mannu, 26.
According to police, the accused told investigators that they wanted to “teach him a lesson” after Singh objected to the noise but did not expect the assault to turn fatal.
Police said Singh had on several occasions complained the owner of a nearby dhaba about noise caused by people gathering there. However, no formal complaint had been received from him regarding the issue. The dhaba remained open until around midnight and attracted customers from nearby areas as well as students living in the locality, police said.
In his complaint, Singh’s 20-year-old son, Yaiphaba, said he heard his father shouting and opened the door, after which he saw a group of men kicking and punching him. Singh later returned upstairs but complained of breathlessness before being taken to hospital by his son.
Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Indian Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, while condemning the killing of Manipuri musician Chongtham Vikram Singh, said violence, hatred and arrogance cannot be allowed to become a norm and asserted that his party would fight for justice.
Addressing a memorial gathering for Singh at the Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi, he said that it had become a “fashion” for powerful people to believe they could act violently or arrogantly without consequences.
“It is something that has become a fashion these days that if you are powerful, you can be violent. If you are powerful, somehow you can be arrogant, somehow you can do whatever you feel like,” Gandhi said.
Gandhi criticised the BJP government over Singh’s killing and questioned the role of Indian Home Minister Amit Shah’s ministry in addressing what he termed “growing lawlessness”.
He said Singh’s death was tragic not only because a person had been killed but also because the alleged attack was linked to where he came from.
“It is a tragedy because his parents will never see their son again,” Gandhi said, adding that violence and hatred were unacceptable regardless of the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Gandhi said he did not believe violence should be countered with violence and called for resistance through expression, talent and a firm rejection of hatred.
“We are not going to accept this nonsense, we are not going to be pushed aside by this violence and stand against this violence,” he said.
“This is not a single incident. This happens now all the time. Sometimes it does not end in murder, sometimes it is a threat, it is happening too much in our country. It is happening to the Northeast people and other communities in the country,” Gandhi said.
Gandhi also criticised the BJP-led government over the situation in Manipur, saying that a “divide and rule” policy was being used and that killings continued in the state.
“Manipur people never bow down till they get justice,” he said.
