By Pradeep Gupta, TNN | Dec 5, 2012, 02.21 AM IST

Dombivli: In a chilling replay of the Amboli eve-teasing horror, four minor boys and their 18-year-old friend stabbed a youth to death at the gate of his housing complex here for protesting the lewd comments passed at a girl. They also injured another person who tried to help the victim late on Monday evening.The five have been arrested for murder and rioting; the four minors will be presented in a juvenile court on Wednesday.

Around 9.45pm on Monday, Santosh Vichivara (19) was returning from work and took a private bus to his Navneet Nagar complex from Dombivli station. Also aboard was a girl who stayed in his complex and was returning from tuitions. Once they alighted, the five accused who were hanging around the colony’s gate, targeted the girl with vulgar comments.

Three of the minors, aged 16 and 17, are in school. A 16-year-old dropout is suspected to be the main assailant. Pankaj Pal, 18, is studying for his HSC examination.

Santosh was irked and when one of the eve-teasers asked for the girl’s cell phone number, he confronted the boys. He asked them to leave the colony gate and an argument ensued. The girl hurried inside and told Santosh to avoid a dispute as the boys, who are from middle class families and stayed nearby, were known miscreants.

But Santosh, who worked in a shop, stood his ground and told the boys that he didn’t want to see them again at the complex gate. At this, the boys attacked him and started beating him up. One of them took out a knife and stabbed him. Santosh staggered into his complex, but the boys followed him and stabbed him again.

On October 20, 2011, Keenan Santos (24) and Reuben Fernandez (29) were stabbed after a scuffle near a paan shop in Amboli , Andheri (W), for protesting against some men harassing their women friends.

In Dombivli, society member Jayantilal Gada, 50, saw the scuffle near the gate and ran to help Santosh. The boys attacked him too with the knife. “Initially, when I saw the accused chasing Santosh, I thought they were manhandling him. But when I went closer, one of the boys attacked me with a knife. I suffered injuries to my hand,” said Jayantilal, who is recovering.

By now, the melee had alerted residents, many of whom rushed out on seeing the scuffle. The boys fled.

“Seeing Santosh bleeding heavily, we called an autorickshaw and took him to the nearby Arogyam hospital. The doctor declared him dead on arrival,” said Manoj Gosar, a resident of the society.

Later, the residents approached the local Manpada police, who filed a murder and rioting case and started a hunt for the accused. “The girl who was being harassed gave us clues about the accused and described the boys to us. We laid traps and arrested them from separate places through the night,” said Indrajeet Karle, inspector at Manpada police station. The girl identified the boys on Tuesday.