Teen dies in street fight in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: A WWE-style street brawl between friends took an ugly turn when one of them died after being repeatedly hit on his face at Panjesha in Mir Chowk. The incident, that took place on May 3, came to light a week later.

Mohammed Nabeel, 17, who finished Inter from Presidency Junior Coll-ege in Falaknuma, collapsed while his friends were cheering and recording the fight on their cellphones.

After the incident, the friends kept the matter a secret and convinced the victim’s family that he had died when he fell off his bike after having fits.

Five days after burying the body without a post-mortem, Nabeel’s family approached the police as they suspected foul play. Police will exhume the body to conduct a post-mortem.

After Nabeel’s father, Mr Mohammed Dastagir, lodged a complaint, cops took eight youths into custody.

Among those taken into custody for the death of a youth during a fight in city is 19-year-old Owais Patel, the main accused. The cops have also procured the video of the fight as evidence.

Six of the other accused were identified as Omar Beig, 20, Sultan Mirza, 21, Irfan Pathan, 20, Shahabas, 20, Aboobakker, 19, and Obaid, 21. The others are minors and cannot be named under the law.

The incident occurred at around 5.30 am and the video footage showed Owais holding the victim’s head firmly under his arms and punching him repeatedly on his face and head.
Nabeel tried to punch him back. However, after receiving more than 10 punches, he collapsed.

“We suspect he received the blows on his temporal region, and sustained head injuries. The real cause can be found by forensic doctors, who will be conducting a post-mortem after exhumation of the body,” said South Zone DCP V. Satyanarayana.

The accused claimed that after Nabeel collapsed, they had taken him to a hospital where the doctors pronounced him dead. The family members preserved the body for a day, waiting for Nabeel’s  father to return from Dubai, and buried it the next day.

During interrogation, the accused revealed that they organised such fights often for fun. “They roamed roads in Banjara Hills on bikes late at night, and came back to Mir Chowk early in the morning. Since holidays are on, they hang out often,” said a police officer who questioned the accused.

Nabeel’s family told the police that they did not file a complaint initially because they believed the accused and thought that it was a natural death. They also did not report the matter to avoid a post-mortem.

The cops had earlier booked a case of suspicious death, however, they will alter the case to murder or culpable homicide. “We will also book cases against the accused for concealing evidence and misleading the police,” said Mr Satyanarayana.