‘Trivial issues reason for most of 167 killings in 2018’

New Delhi: Brawls over trivial issues such as not sharing a cigarette have led to a spate of killings in the capital in the first four months of the year, according to newly-released Delhi Police data.  

But the most common reason for fatal crimes was personal enmity and old disputes, Till April 30 this year, 27 of the 167 reported killings took place because of a sudden provocation or a trivial issue, the second most common reason for bloodshed. Personal enmity was cited in the data as the most common motive in murder cases.

During the past two years, too, animosity occupied the top spot, followed by violence over sudden provocations or trivial issues.

In 2017, more than 45% murder cases were due to personal enmity, the Delhi Police data showed. As many as 65 people were killed till April 30 this year because of long-standing disputes or enmity, the Delhi police said.

A 35-year-old woman and her teen aged son were gunned dead allegedly by her brother-in-law in southwest Delhi’s Palam area in January because of a property dispute.

In March this year, a 45-year-old woman was shot dead in southwest Delhi while her brother was also killed and his body dumped in a remote part of Haryana. The brother and sister were allegedly killed by a man with whom they had a land dispute in Ghummanhera village.

That trivial issues often lead to murder was highlighted in a case few days ago when a gym trainer was stabbed to death in a bar in west Delhi’s Punjabi Bagh by a disc jockey following a quarrel over playing of Punjabi songs.

A 21-year-old software graphic student was killed on March 21 in Netaji Subhash Place in northwest Delhi by three people, including a juvenile, following a scuffle over the sharing of a cigarette.

In another incident, a 30-year-old man lost his life when he complained about the quality of food being served to him at an eatery in east Delhi’s Preet Vihar. He was killed with a broken ladle allegedly by the eatery employees in March.