Indian man killed for taking too long in toilet

Jan 30, 2012, 8:59 GMT

New Delhi - A 26-year-old man was killed in Mumbai after he got into a fight over taking too long in a public toilet, a report said Monday.

Both the victim and suspect were residents of a tenement with shared facilities, which are common in India's densely populated financial hub.

Simon Lingeree was using a toilet Saturday when Santosh Kargutkar became impatient while waiting in the queue, the Times of India newspaper reported, citing police.

The two got into a heated argument when Lingeree came out.

'It first started off as a war of words, but Kargutkar soon assaulted Lingeree,' police inspector Ramrao Desai said.

Kargutkar struck Lingeree on a sensitive spot on his head and he died, Desai said. There were no weapons involved, the inspector said.

The suspect fled the scene but was later arrested on a murder charge, Desai said.

Residents of the tenement criticized authorities for failing to provide adequate facilities.

'We have absolutely no public sanitation facilities,' resident Rajesh Paswan said. 'Sometimes basic human needs take over all rationale, and this is what happened today. It is tragic that two lives have been destroyed over such a petty issue,'