23-year-old Uzaib, a Rapido driver from Delhi’s Uttam Nagar, was beaten to death on 26 June allegedly for failing to pay Rs. 8,000 out of Rs. 50,000 he had borrowed from a financier, Sandeep. The assault occurred in Nazafgarh, 14 kms away from Uzaib’s abode, where he was turned black and blue, flogged with a stick, and stabbed with a sharp object that ruptured his kidney and subsequently was dumped outside his house, taking his last breath.
According to the family, while he was being rushed to the hospital, Uzaib identified Sandeep, Lalit, and Mohit as the main accused of the barbarity that was launched on him for hours.
“He had gone to drive the car and was on the way when someone tipped them off. Sandeep, Lalit, and Mohit came, pulled him out of the car, took him to a secluded place, and beat him severely. They kept assaulting him continuously for 7–8 hours,” Uzaib’s brother Zaid told FoEJ Media.
They beat him so badly that his body was drowned in blood, bones were broken, and organs were ruptured.
“He succumbed to his injuries in my arms,” he added.
Uzaib allegedly borrowed money from financier Sandeep for his wife, Aisha’s, delivery, which was scheduled shortly. Uzaib managed to pay Rs. 42,000, and an amount of Rs. 8,000 was left, which eventually resulted in the alleged reason behind his death.
“About 15 days before the incident, those men had come to our house. Uzaib was not at home at the time. Before leaving, they threatened that wherever they found him, they would break all his bones,” Zaid said.
Uzaib, the main breadwinner of his family, left behind a devastated brother; a heartbroken wife, who gave birth to their son shortly after his death; and an emotionally shattered mother.
The pain of her mother, Rabiya, could be gauged from her emotional condition, which torments her as she lurks on the thought of death. “I am unable to sleep at night. I spend the entire night staring at his photographs,” she says.
“I never even slapped him. I raised him by myself after my husband’s death. However, they assaulted him continuously for 7–8 hours, inflicting such severe injuries that he ultimately died,” Uzaib’s mother, Rabiya, said talking to FoEJ Media.
“If they wanted to kill him, they could have just shot him or staged an accident. Why did they have to kill him with such brutality?” she cried, inconsolable and devastated.
“He must have been in agony. He must have been crying out, ‘Mummy, Mummy,’ and I couldn’t even save my child,” she said.
While Rabiya’s grief surfaces emotionally, Uzaib’s wife circles physically. “She would regain consciousness, then faint again. She would come to, only to lose consciousness once more. It kept happening over and over,” Zaid told FoEJ Media.
An FIR has been registered under Section 140(3) BNS, Section 105 BNS, and Section 3(5) BNS at Chhawla, Najafgarh police station; however, no arrest has been made yet. The police state that Uzaib was “brought dead” at the hospital.
