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Haryana body builder allegedly beaten to death for questioning eve teasing at wedding; four detained, say police

Four people have been rounded up for questioning in connection with the murder of a 26-year-old professional bodybuilder, Rohit Dhankar, for protesting against alleged sexual misconduct towards women during a wedding in Haryana's Bhiwani. According to media reports citing eye witness accounts, Dhankar was brutally beaten up with hockey sticks and rods by a group of 18-20 men on Friday night while he was attending the wedding ceremony of a friend's relative. Jatin, whose relative's wedding it was, told reporters, We were at the wedding. There we saw some people using improper language and we pointed out to them that girls were around...After one hour, when we left, they intercepted us. The assailants blocked their car at a railway crossing, and beat Dhankhar with rods and hockey sticks, he said. Dhankhar was rushed to PGIMS hospital in Rohtak where he succumbed on Saturday. An uncle of Dhankar, who hailed from Humayunpur village in Rohtak district, said the wounds he sustained could not be described in words. They beat him so badly, inflicting injuries all over his body. The attackers presumed he had died and fled. He was still alive and died during treatment at the hospital in Rohtak, Dhankar's uncle, Satish, said. We want justice in the case and exemplary punishment to the accused...If a medal-winning player can meet this fate, what will these goons do to a common man then, he said. Meanwhile, a police officer from Bhiwani said four people had been rounded up for questioning in connection with the incident. Bhiwani Sadar SHO Vikas said police have registered a case of murder and are looking for the assailants, of whom there were over a dozen. Dhankhar's family said he was a bodybuilder and a gym trainer in Rohtak and had won many national and state level medals. Former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had also honoured him in 2016 for his achievements, Satish said. Dhankhar was the sole breadwinner of the family and is survived by his mother and sister, he said. (With inputs from PTI)