- The man was driving his seriously ill son-in-law to Jhalawar in Rajasthan for treatment
- He was brutually attacked with an iron rod during a traffic dispute
- The man sat in the front seat with towel tied tightly around his head as blood slowly seeped through the cloth
What began as a desperate attempt by a man to save his ailing son-in-law turned into a tragic story of courage and violence on a crowded road in Madhya Pradesh's Rajgarh district.
Sixty-year-old Bhagwan Singh was brutually attacked with an iron rod during a traffic dispute in Khilchipur, yet he continued the journey for nearly 120 kilometres, determined to get his sick son-in-law to the hospital before his own injuries finally claimed his life.
The incident occurred on Monday afternoon near the Khilchipur bus stand, where a traffic jam erupted after a pickup vehicle allegedly blocked the road and rammed into several vehicles.
Bhagwan Singh, a resident of Sirangi village in the Khujner police station area, was driving his seriously ill son-in-law Manohar Singh, 45, to Jhalawar in Rajasthan for treatment of a severe respiratory illness. Around 12:22 pm, their car got trapped in the gridlock.
Witnesses say the elderly man stepped out of the vehicle to clear the jam so they could rush the patient to the hospital.
That decision proved deadly.
According to police, when Bhagwan Singh asked the pickup driver to move his vehicle, the driver Kailash Tanwar, 26, allegedly attacked him with an iron rod, striking him on the head. The blow caused a serious head injury.
But instead of seeking help, Bhagwan Singh reportedly tied a towel around his bleeding head, quietly returned to the car and continued the journey, hiding the attack from his family so the treatment of his son-in-law would not be delayed.
His son Mohan Singh later said the family had no idea how badly he had been injured.
"He had no intention of fighting anyone. His only concern was to reach the hospital quickly so that my brother-in-law could get treatment," he said.
For nearly 50 kilometres, Bhagwan Singh sat in the front seat with the towel tied tightly around his head as blood slowly seeped through the cloth.
When the bleeding worsened, the family rushed him to Iklera Hospital in Rajasthan, where doctors declared his condition critical and advised immediate referral.
The family then drove him another 70 kilometres to Jhalawar, but by the time they reached the hospital, doctors had declared him dead.
The man who had set out to save his son-in-law had lost his life on the way.
Following the incident, the family filed a complaint at the Khilchipur police station. Police examined CCTV footage and evidence from the scene and launched a search operation. The accused, Kailash Tanwar, son of Hiralal Tanwar and a resident of Rajpur, was arrested near Prempura. Police said he was drunk at the time of the attack.
The station in charge, Umashankar Mukati, confirmed that a case has been registered and further investigation is underway.
