30-Year-Old Rape Accused from Haryana Found Dead, Family Suspect Foul Play

The alleged encounter of a young boy from Khadkhadi village in Nuh district of Haryana on September 16 is mired in controversy, with the family of the deceased alleging that he was killed in cold blood. The police have however rubbished the allegation.

The father of the victim – Munfaid Hussain, a 30-year-old rape accused from Khadkhadi – alleged in a written complaint to the police that his son was called to Rewari by officials of the CIA (Central Investigation Agency, Haryana) to meet them. They allegedly promised him that all “false” cases registered against him would be closed if he agrees to work for them.

“In order to avoid everyday harassment by the police, the deceased father and father-in-law advised him to do whatever the police are asking him to do,” said a fact-finding report prepared by the members of Citizens Against Hate (CAH) that visited the victim’s village and met his family and friends.

On the morning of September 16, the victim’s father was informed that his son was shot at Kala Pahad Ki Ghatti at Tauru-Nuh road at around 2-3 a.m. “He then went to the mortuary of Nuh Hospital, where he identified the body of his son,” said the report.

The father in his complaint has alleged that the CIA officials “conspired and murdered” his son.

“However, in a blatant attempt to cover up the incident, the FIR lodged by the police is not based on the complaint given by the victim’s father. It is, in fact, based on the statement given by one Inspector Mastana, a CIA official, in Nuh, Haryana,” the report alleged.

The FIR (no. 0358, dated September 16) has been filed at Tauru police station in Nuh district under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing the disappearance of evidence of the offence or giving false information to screen offender) and Section 25 of Arms Act, 1959, against unknown persons.

According to the FIR, Inspector Mastana spotted a white pickup van (registration number not mentioned in the FIR) in the middle of the road near the abandoned mining Kanta at Tauru Ghatti, where he found an unidentified person with grievous injuries.

“The victim was taken to Nalhad Hospital where he was declared dead. It was found that the person was shot in his neck by unknown people. The CIA staff contacted the police station and the FIR was registered,” states the FIR.

As per the post-mortem report, “a reddish contusion was found on the front right side of the chest and firearm entry wounds were found on the front right side of the neck. A deformed metallic bullet of size 1.5X1 cm was found over the right side of second thoracic vertebrae”.

Munfaid, according to the fact-finding team’s report, was accompanied by three of his friends, when he had gone to meet the police officials.

“They (the friends) saw Munfaid being shot by the police. The eyewitnesses informed the residents of the village that the policemen came in a green Bolero, which stopped right in front of their vehicle. Munfaid, who was sitting in his vehicle with his three other friends, was shot at by the officials. The three friends, scared of their own lives, ran away from the spot and informed the villagers about the murder. The eyewitnesses, perceiving a threat to their lives, have yet not given their statements to the police and are currently in hiding,” said the report.

Munfaid’s father Islam Hussain said his son was in constant touch with the police officials regarding a “false” case of rape lodged against him. “Munfaid was working for the police at different occasions. The cops were constantly calling him on the evening of September 15, asking him to do a piece of work for them. In return, his name would be removed from the rape case,” Hussain told the fact-finding team.

Quoting residents of Rozkemeo village, the fact-finding team alleged in its report that the police had first taken Munfaid’s body to Nalhad Medical College and Hospital at Nuh district. “He was declared dead there. The police pressurised doctors there to conduct a post-mortem. However, the doctors refused to conduct the post-mortem on an unidentified body because, as per procedure, the post-mortem on an unidentified body can be done after three days,” said the report.

The police then took the body to CHC, Nuh, for the post-mortem. But the doctors there also turned down the police request. The cops then had to call a doctor from Palwal to carry out the post-mortem.

“The cops were in haste because they wanted the autopsy to be conducted before the deceased’s family members could arrive so that the evidence present of the body could be tampered with,” said the report citing residents versions.

The victim’s father alleged that the “doctor along with the policemen was trying to destroy the evidence present on the deceased’s body”. “I saw them tearing his clothes and trying to remove something from his body. When objected, I was abused and asked to leave the room,” he said.

The victim’s father gave a written complaint to the police at around 3 pm wherein he named six CIA staff as accused. He was assured that a FIR would be lodged on the basis of his complaint. But it was not done. A FIR was already registered by the police at 10.39 am on September 16 based on the statement given by Inspector Mastana. No separate FIR was lodged after that.

According to the police version, Munfaid’s body was found in a white pickup van in the middle of the road near an abandoned mining Kanta at Tauru Ghati. The place is located on a short stretch of road running along a hill on the way from Nuh to Tauru, just after Shonk village in Nuh district.

“On reaching the place, we found that the road had been closed off after Shonk village by the order of the state government for road repair and construction works. Those manning a check post there said that no cars were being allowed to go through. When asked about the site where the incident took place, they said the place is just a short distance from the other check post where the roadblock ended,” the team said in its report.

They claimed that the villagers in Shonk informed them, that on the night of September 15, a Bolero with police beacons had rushed past the village in the direction of the alleged spot after 12 night. A PCR van had also gone there the next morning between 6-7 am.

This is not the only case of alleged encounter in Nuh district. “A surge in cases of extrajudicial killings has been witnessed in the past few years in Nuh and Faridabad districts,” said the fact-finding team.

A recently published fact-finding report titled ‘Lynching without End’ by Citizens Against Hate looks at religiously motivated vigilante violence in India. The report states that a rapid listing of police encounter cases led to the identification of 11 such cases involving 15 deceased in Nuh district alone.

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