Mumbai: Man cuts off friend's genitals for calling him 'hijra', arrested

A petty fight in Bhayander late on Saturday resulted in a man cutting off his friend's genitals. The victim is battling for his life at a city hospital while the Navghar police have arrested the attacker.

Rajkumar Gurmi, 30, and Ramsharan Harijan, 38, worked at an industrial manufacturing unit near BP Road in Bhayander (East). On Saturday night, they got into a heated argument and Harijan allegedly assaulted Gurmi with an iron rod. When Gurmi allegedly verbally abused Harijan and called him a hijra, an offended Harijan is said to have chopped off Gurmi's genitals with a knife. Harijan allegedly kept on assaulting Gurmi till he lost consciousness.
The police said the fight between the two had taken place due to some monetary issue. The other workers tried to intervene but the two did not stop and the incident soon took an ugly turn. Gurmi was first taken to Bhagwati hospital and, later, shifted to Sion hospital in a critical state.

Dinkar Pingle, inspector, Navghar police station, said, "We have arrested Harijan under section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code. The fight started over a petty issue but led to Harijan taking such an extreme step. The victim is critical. We are investigating the case."