Two people were arrested by Gautam Buddha Nagar police on Monday for allegedly beating an 18-year-old boy and throwing him from the second floor on charges of theft. The man succumbed to his injuries.
The defendants have been identified as Neeraj Yadav and Arun Kumar.
The victim, Shiva Sharma, worked as a cleaner at a gym run by Yadav. She lived with her older brother Avaneesh Sharma and Sharma’s wife in the same rented building. The building housed the gymnasium on the ground floor.
“They called and claimed that my brother had stolen something. I told them to wait, my office is only 2 km from the building and I ran home immediately. But they didn’t listen to me. They brutally beat my brother. To save himself, he ran to the second floor, but they pushed him out of the building,” Avaneesh, 24, alleged as he sat next to the body of his brother in the ambulance on the way to their Khurdi village in Badaun district.
Police said the incident occurred around 10 p.m. Friday. Shiva was rushed to the district hospital and later referred to Safdarjung hospital. He was pronounced dead early Monday morning.
“My brother used to do the cleaning at his gym, along with his other chores. He had been there five months. They had promised to give him a salary of Rs 8,000 a month, but they never paid him. Earlier too, they had made an accusation of stealing Rs 18,000 and said that until he gets this money back, he cannot stop working at the gym,” Avaneesh alleged. “On March 3, Shiva was given the keys to his locker to search for something. When he did, they accused him of stealing 50,000 rupees”.
Avaneesh’s father died four years ago and due to his family’s financial situation, he had to drop out of school. “He turned 18 on January 1,” her brother said.
Police Deputy Commissioner (Central Noida) Amit Pratap Singh said both defendants have been sent into court custody. “Yadav and Kumar were brought before the court and sent to jail. We have added section 302 (murder) to the FIR TREE after Shiva’s death. The deceased’s sister and brother-in-law are the main witnesses,” Singh said.