Another Victim of Lynching Over Cattle Theft in UP

In yet another incident of mob lynching, a man was beaten to death on late Tuesday night in Bholapur Hindoliya village of Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district allegedly over suspicion of cattle theft. Shahrukh Khan, a 22-year-old, who was working as a tailor in Dubai, had come home a month ago. 

According to the local media, the postmortem report reveals that Khan died of severe beating, and it caused internal injuries to his liver. However, the Bareilly police has claimed that he was a drug addict had died of an "overdose of drugs". 

Firoz alias Nathu Khan, brother of Shahrukh, rubbished the allegation, and said that Shahrukh had gone out with friends, and his family got worried when he did not return home. They then received a phone call from the police saying he had been hospitalised.

This is not the first time that Bareilly has witnessed a lynching, Mohammad Salim Quraishi, a meat trader in Bareilly, died after he was reportedly assaulted by police officials in Bareilly. Salim had to be moved to a Delhi hospital on June 21, after the alleged assault took place on June 14. He used to run a meat shop in Baradari area of the Old Bareilly. 

Speaking with Newsclick, SHO, Bareilly Cantonment, Dharmendra Kumar, said, "When we found Khan, he was in a critical condition, and was sent to the district hospital. He was declared dead after three hours. Postmortem report suggests that due to the severe beating using sticks, his liver and kidney burst and stop passing bloods in his mind. He told his brother Firoz about the incident." 

"We have arrested five people, and they have been sent to the district jail. They have been identified as Gajendra (35), Kishanpal (22), Avaran Singh (35), Mukesh (35), and Mukesh (23). We will soon nab two more people who were involved in beating Khan. They all have been booked under India Penal Code (IPC) 302 (punishment for murder).”

Firoz told Newsclick: "He was earning very well in Dubai and used send money home. Why would he steal the cattle? Four friends of Shahrukh and neighbors took him on August 29, and when it was getting late and he did not return home, I called him up. His mobile was switched off, so I informed the police."

He added, "Suppose if he stole anything – which is not true – then who has given rights to the people to lynch my brother or for that matter anyone. I have doubt on these four people who took my brother, and they have surrendered. Picture will become clear soon.”

The lynching of 52-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh in September 2015 for allegedly consuming cow meat was the first such crime that had grabbed headlines. 

In another case, on June 18, 45-year-old cattle trader Qasim Qureshi was lynched, and 65-year-old farmer Samayuddin was brutally beaten over rumours of cow slaughter in Hapur district's Bajhera Khurd village in Uttar Pradesh.

Late month, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government in the Hapur lynching case and asked the Meerut inspector-general to conduct an inquiry and submit a report. Furthermore, as per the Ministry of Home Affairs data, 45 people were killed in 40 different cases across nine states between 2014 and March 3, 2018.

Ever since the BJP-led NDA government has come to power, the country has witnessed a spate of lynchings and violent incidents by right-wing hooligans against people from the Muslim and Dalit communities. It is important to remember that these are just those incidents that are picked up by the media. 

As we near the general elections of 2019, it seems like the lynching and other hate crimes against the Muslims are becoming more rampant day by day, taking it almost to a point of normalcy, failing to create even the tiniest of ripples. The collusion of the Uttar Pradesh government and agencies in not preventing the hate crimes has become more than obvious lately.