New Delhi: A day before his 24th birthday, delivery executive Sameer Hussain died Tuesday after spending more than two weeks in hospital. The young man’s death followed an alleged assault over a torn Rs 10 note in east Delhi’s East Vinod Nagar and his subsequent consumption of a poisonous substance.Speaking to TOI, his uncle Shamim said the family received a call around 9.30 pm on Oct 5 and reached the hospital about an hour later. Shamim said that fellow delivery executives informed the family about what happened. “We do not know where he consumed the poisonous substance. He fell unconscious at the office where he worked,” he said. TOI had reported the incident on Oct 22.His father (46) has been unwell, and Sameer had recently taken up the delivery job to support the family while also hoping to complete his Class X education, Shamim said.According to police, Sameer called the PCR around 11.03 pm on Oct 4, alleging that he had been slapped by two residents after refusing to accept a torn Rs 10 note as payment. During the investigation, a video surfaced in which he recounted his version of events.In the video, Sameer said he had gone to deliver a coffee order to an elderly customer, who took 10-15 minutes to arrange the payment before handing over cash that included a torn Rs 10 note. When he objected, the customer allegedly told him to either accept it or leave.Sameer said he offered to cancel the order and questioned why it had been placed if the payment could not be made properly. He alleged that the customer began abusing him, after which another man arrived and slapped him several times. Sameer also claimed that the man mocked his middle-class background. He was later seen consuming a poisonous substance in the video.Police said they received information that Sameer had allegedly consumed a poisonous substance and was admitted to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital on Oct 5. A medico-legal case was prepared shortly after midnight and an FIR was registered the same day.Following Sameer’s death, police added Section 108 of BNS, pertaining to abetment of suicide, to the case. The two arrested accused have been identified as Rakesh alias Bunti (30) and Rampal Singh (65).
