Ranchi man stops attack on woman, beaten to death

Bhardwaj, whose own house is being built diagonally opposite the woman's and who was witness to the incident, allegedly intervened and chased the men away. Within 15 minutes, however, at least two of the four men returned with about 10 others and attacked Bhardwaj and his friends, police said.

"After lunch at home, my brother left on his bike to see the new house," Rajnikant, the dead man's brother, said. The family, including Bhardwaj, his wife and their two young sons, lives in Bariatu Housing Colony nearby. "He told us he would be with friends," Rajnikant said.

A resident of Swami Sahajanand Colony said, "This is still a sparsely populated locality. That day, most families were out celebrating the New Year. Bhardwaj and his friends were the only ones to react when the woman was attacked. They were good, decent people."

The resident said it was to be expected that the youths who attacked them, all residents of Tiril Basti, would return with others to extract their revenge.

Police officer Paswan said, "According to information available to us now, at least two from the first group were part of the second. It was all over in five minutes."

Bhardwaj was cornered in an empty plot overgrown with weeds adjacent to his own. Blood-stained pieces of two pens and dislodged teeth lying on the ground told the story of the assault.

Paswan said he had been delayed on the way to the spot. "We were patrolling the other end of the station area, which is susceptible to drunken behaviour. I started for the spot as soon as I received the call, but took a route not accessible by a police jeep."

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