Bustling with shops of all kinds and packed with cars that never seem to stop honking, the crowded streets of Gautam Colony, a neighbourhood in North Delhi’s Narela, are chaotic and loud. But tucked away in one of its lanes, a shroud of sorrowful quiet has taken over the Singh household.
Almost two weeks after her husband, Manoj Singh, 35, was killed in a moving bus, 32-year-old Sushila is struggling to come to terms with the events of the day that turned out to be the last time she saw him.
In the late afternoon of February 1, Manoj, who was employed as a cook, met Sushila at a hospital where she works as a helper. He then headed for Sultanpur Dabas, where he and a friend were going to cater food at a wedding.
“I told him not to go to Sultanpur as he said he would return late at night,” said Sushila, sobbing. “But he insisted on going saying we could earn some extra money for the family’s day-to-day expenses.”
Sushila now wishes she had been more insistent and stopped him from leaving. “He told me he was just going out for a few hours and would return soon.”
But the clock had ticked past midnight and no one had heard from Manoj, no phone calls, no messages. Manoj and Sushila lived in the house with their four children – three daughters and a son. The oldest is 12, the youngest is five.
When Manoj still hadn’t returned the following day, the family, in panic, went to Bawana police station to file a missing person’s complaint. Hours later, the Delhi police also received a PCR call about the body of an unidentified man lying on the roadside near a flyover in Bawana.
On February 3, the police concluded that the unidentified man was Manoj. They told the family he had been murdered and his body was thrown near the flyover. A post-mortem report later revealed several internal injuries, including severe trauma to his “private parts”.
‘Killed over spilled food’
According to the police, Manoj had been murdered on the night of February 1 in a bus he had boarded from Sultanpur Dabas to return home. He was with his friend Dinesh when the bus driver and two others allegedly killed him after Manoj accidentally spilled food inside the vehicle.
Nidhin Valsan, the deputy commissioner of police (Outer North), told the media: “After finishing their work that night, they packed some leftover food and took it with them. They boarded an RTV bus in which three people, including the driver, were already inside. As they neared Bawana Chowk, Manoj accidentally spilled some food, soiling the bus seats and floor.”
Enraged, the driver and his companions allegedly forced Manoj to clean the spilled food with his shirt. The police said the trio then began to abuse and assault Manoj.
“They allowed Dinesh to get off at Bawana Chowk but prevented Manoj from leaving the bus, and kept driving. The driver, Ashish, took a rod and violently assaulted Manoj. After some time, Manoj lost consciousness. The driver and his accomplices then dumped his body near the Bawana flyover before fleeing the scene in their bus,” Valsan told the media.
Ashish, alias Ashu, and his companions, Kala and Sushant, were named in an FIR for murder under sections 103 (1) and 103 (3) (5) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita . Sushant was arrested on February 8; Ashish and Kala remain at large.
‘Reminded of Nirbhaya case’
Manoj’s brother Jitender, 30, told Newslaundry that the law and order situation in Delhi “needs to be questioned”.
“How is it possible that a man is raped and killed in a bus and no action is taken?” he asked.
He compared it to the Nirbhaya gangrape of 2012. “The case from years ago, wherein a woman was brutally raped and murdered in a moving bus, feels eerily similar to what happened to my brother. The brutality is the same, and law and order in this city still remains broken.”
Jitender also criticised the police for only arresting Sushant so far. “My brother was brutally beaten up and then raped. The final blow came with the rod...It is just so heinous, and yet the criminals are absconding.”
Manoj’s brother-in-law Bharat added, “Are people even considered human in Delhi? What kind of system is this?”
The family has demanded justice for Manoj and strict action against the culprits. “I’m unsure of what the future holds, but all we want is justice. I want the criminals to be punished the same way they tortured my husband," said Sushila.
“My brother’s children deserve justice for their father. They ask me where their father is, and all I can say is that he's at work,” said Jitender, adding that he wonders “if justice will be served by the time the children are all grown ups and learn the truth about their father’s brutal death”.
‘Borrowed money for Manoj’s last rites’
Ten days after his death, his family organised a shanti havan for Manoj at their rented house. Holding back tears, Jitendra recalled how Manoj shouldered the entire family’s responsibilities, especially after their father died during the Covid pandemic.
“He was the one who kept everyone together. He took care of our mother, and ensured our younger sister’s marriage happened smoothly,” he said. The two brothers would often sit together and share their troubles over a meal. “Now, it feels like I’ll be eating alone for the rest of my life,” said Jitendra.
His mother Suman Devi, 60, was inconsolable at Manoj’s death. “Who will look after me now?” she asked, weeping. “My son was such a good man. He helped everyone.”
Originally from Itawa in Uttar Pradesh, Manoj also worked as a part-time mason, and toiled for long, exhausting hours to provide for his family. With him gone, the Singh family is now finding it hard to make ends meet.
“We needed Rs 20,000 to conduct my brother’s last rites. We did not have it and borrowed all of it. My sister-in-law even had to take money from her employer,” said Jitender, who makes Rs 14,000 a month working at a restaurant.
“What happened to my husband...I wish no one else ever has to face something like this,” Sushila said. “I’m also scared for the safety of my kids now. What if they are killed for no reason as well?”
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