Sameer Hussain, 23, died on Tuesday at Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital in Delhi. He was admitted on October 5, hours after allegedly consuming poison following an incident on October 4. The delivery executive for Flipkart Minutes had been working a bicycle route in Vinod Nagar, east Delhi. He died during treatment, days before his scheduled 24th birthday.
The conflict stemmed from a 150-rupee coffee order. Hussain said customer Rampal Singh took 15 minutes to assemble the cash. When Hussain asked Singh to replace a torn 10-rupee note, he was slapped three times. "I told him politely, 'Uncle, please change this'," Hussain said in a video recorded before his death. He claimed Singh insulted his financial condition, prompting Hussain to ask, "Is being poor an abuse?"
Hussain’s mother, Kalima, alleged the accused has political connections and threatened that he would avoid legal consequences. She stated the customer mocked his poverty. In a separate video, described as a suicide note, Hussain blamed Singh and his grandson Rakesh for the abuse. "I know no complaint will be registered against him," he said. He noted that Singh’s wife later asked him to apologize, but he felt the apology was hollow after the beatdown.
Police have added Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) to the case file, which pertains to abetment of suicide. They are investigating the circumstances surrounding Hussain’s death. The case highlights the vulnerabilities of gig workers in Delhi who often lack institutional support when facing harassment from customers.