Mumbai: Man beaten to death for 'staring' in Matunga area; 3 held

Mumbai: A 28-year-old man was allegedly thrashed to death on Sunday afternoon by three people in the Matunga area. A fight broke out between them as one was staring at another.

The matter surfaced when the Shahu Nagar police were alerted about it from Sion Hospital, where the victim, Ronit Bhalerao, was taken to. However, Ronit was declared dead before arrival.

According to senior police inspector Ashok Thube of Shahu Nagar, the incident started when Ronit along with a friend was walking across the road, looking for alcohol shops. Ronit was already intoxicated with alcohol. One of the accused in the case was walking in the same lane as Ronit.

“They both glanced at each other, which started a verbal fight at first. Both started bickering about why one was staring at another and in no time, they started getting physical with each other, while subsequently the two other accused joined and started attacking Ronit,” explained Thube.

There were no sharp objects being used for hitting, the accused punched Ronit repeatedly in the chest and head. One of the accused used his belt to hit the victim. They, collectively, kept pushing Ronit to the ground while he was trying to fight back. In the end, when they pushed him again, Ronit fell down, hitting his head on the ground and losing his consciousness.

As per the preliminary report from the doctors, hitting his head had caused internal injury and bleeding which may have led to his death.

The accused in the case are identified as Manish Rathod, 25, Sagar Salve, 23, and Rupesh Saude, 33. All three, including the victim, resided in the Matunga Labour Camp area in Dharavi, confirmed Thube.

A case has been registered against the three under sections 302 (murder), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intent) of the Indian Penal Code.

The three were produced before the court on Monday and were remanded to police custody, confirmed the police.