India, Feb. 6 -- "Even helping someone is a crime these days," lamented the mother of a 26-year-old man who was left with severe head injuries after he tried to stop a group of men from harassing women in south Delhi's Mehrauli area.

Sarvesh, whose son Mukesh is battling multiple injuries at the AIIMS Trauma Centre, said the family is traumatised by the brutality of the attack that occurred in the early hours of February 3. He was returning from a wedding when he intervened to protect a group of women at a tea stall, only to be struck down and thrashed by four men.

"Even helping someone in this day and age is a crime because my son tried to help, and he got so badly injured," Sarvesh said on Thursday. "If someone had not stopped those p...