Delhi Shalimar Bagh murders: Two grieving mothers and a ‘shocked’ witness

The murderous knife attack that killed two men dead in northwest Delhi’s Shalimar Bagh has left two grieving mothers. One says she did all she could to save her son from harm. The other still doesn’t know why her son was killed.

Sunita Kwatra, mother of 23-year-old man Tanish, said that she believed that she had managed to sort out the matter. According to the police, Tanish had allegedly thrashed some local youngsters after a road rage incident on Monday and left them baying for his blood.

Around four people had visited Sunita at her home around 5 pm on Tuesday and complained about Tanish. “I told them that I would scold and beat Tanish and that he will never indulge in a street fight again,” said Sunita, who lost her husband years ago. Tanish was her only child.

When Tanish received a phone call from his friend around 8.30 pm the same evening, she begged him not to leave home. “But he convinced me that he would be with his friends and that the quarrel had been sorted,” said Sunita.

Minutes later, she heard that her son had been stabbed by the same men who had visited her house hours earlier.

In another lane in the same neighbourhood, 22-year-old Pawan Gupta’s grieving mother kept searching for answers for his killing. Police believe that Gupta was an innocent bystander who was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

“My son wasn’t someone who would even stop a fight. He always minded his own business. Why would someone kill him?” asked Pawan’s mother Sitara Devi.

Pawan and his mother had left their home together around 8 pm. Devi was buying vegetables when Pawan went to collect train tickets from the local shop in which Kwatra rushed into to save himself.

“Pawan returned home around 8.45 pm and was bleeding. He told us that he had been stabbed,” said his sister, Renu. “Someone’s ego has snatched my son away from me,” she added.

Elsewhere in the same neighbourhood, Kamal Kumar, the owner of the tour and travel shop and eyewitness, was still in a state of shock. “The murder scene reminded me of Hindi movies from the 80s and 90s. I am lucky to have escaped alive,” said Kumar.