An 18-year-old student was beaten to death in Delhi allegedly by the family members of a woman who objected to their friendship, PTI reported on Friday. The incident took place on Wednesday evening in Adarsh Nagar, the police said.

The youth, identified as Rahul Rajput, studied at Delhi University’s School of Open Learning. He also tutored school students.

The police have arrested the woman’s brother, a relative and three minors in connection with the incident. “During investigation, we found that the boy, who was a resident of Jahangirpuri, was friends with a girl and her family was against it,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) Vijayanta Arya told NDTV.

The police also said the woman’s family opposed their friendship because the man was from a different community. “Her brother and other family members thrashed the boy over this and he died due injuries,” Arya said.

The police said that that the accused had asked Rajput to come meet them on Wednesday evening. But when he reached the spot, he was beaten by a group of about five people.

In his complaint, Rajput’s uncle, Dharampal, said that he received a call around 7 pm about the attack. “When I reached the place, I found that my nephew was being beaten up brutally by the woman’s brothers and their associates,” he added. “They slapped, punched and kicked him.”

Dharampal told the Hindustan Times that he tried to intervene and save his nephew. “The woman’s younger brother said they were beating him up because he had refused to stop seeing the woman,” he alleged. “I managed to rescue my nephew after pleading with them to let him go. They left after threatening us.”

Rajput was taken to a hospital and discharged after first aid. “At night, his condition deteriorated,” his uncle told newspaper. “We took him back to the hospital on Thursday morning, but he died during treatment.”

According to Dharampal, Rajput and the women knew each other for two months and lived in the same locality. “My nephew would give her English tuitions at a coaching centre,” he said.

The victim’s postmortem showed that rupturing of spleen led to his death, Arya said, adding that he did not have any visible injuries.

The officer added that the police have filed a case against the accused under Sections 302 (murder) and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. Police personnel have been deployed in the area to avoid tensions between the families.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, meanwhile, announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for Rajput’s family, according to News18. “This is a horrific crime,” he said. “A hard-working boy has been killed. All culprits will be punished. Whenever they are apprehended, we will ensure that the best lawyers are present to make sure they are brought to justice.”