A 20-year-old boy, Shahrukh Khan, was beaten to death by about 50 villagers on the suspicion of stealing a buffalo on Tuesday
Bareilly: The number of mob and cow lynchings and absolute lawlessness in UP continues unabated. A 20-year-old boy, Shahrukh Khan, was beaten to death by about 50 villagers on the suspicion of stealing a buffalo on Tuesday.
The incident occurred in a village in Bareilly where the boy succumbed to his injuries after being admitted to the district hospital. The post-mortem report stated failure of his kidney and liver. “According to the police, Shahrukh used to work as a tailor in Dubai and had come to his village of Thiria Nizawat Khan a month ago,” reported The Indian Express.
“Shahrukh’s elder brother Feroz said, “Around 8 pm on Tuesday, Shahrukh was called out of his house by his friends Mazid Ali, Abid and one unidentified person. When he did not return home till late in the night, I made enquiries, and was told that Mazid had not returned home either.” Feroz said he got a call from a policeman around 6 am on Wednesday informing him that Shahrukh had been admitted in the district hospital in serious condition. “We rushed to hospital. Shahrukh, who had bruises all over his body, told us that he was asked by Mazid and others to accompany them to the nearby Bholapur Hindolia village to steal buffalo and he unwillingly went with their plan. They had also given him tablets containing drugs,” said Feroz in the report.
He also added that the friends had criminal backgrounds and Shahrukh had no need to indulge in theft as he was earning well.
“The Cantonment Police have registered two FIRs — one against 25 people of Bholapur village for lynching Shahrukh, and another for buffalo theft on a complaint by one Gajendra Pal of that village, whose cattle Shahrukh and others allegedly stole. “No arrests have been made yet. Police teams have been formed and we are hopeful of a breakthrough soon,” said the PRO of Bareilly SSP Muniraj G. “The FIR for buffalo theft was lodged under Section 379 (punishment for theft) and 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) of the IPC,” said Dharmendra Gupta, in-charge of Cantonment police station,” the report said.
“Bareilly SP Abhinandan Singh said, “Shahrukh Khan and his aides were in the process of stealing a buffalo from the house of a local farmer named Gajendra Pal around 3am on Wednesday. However, the farmer spotted them and raised an alarm. A crowd of nearly 50 villagers gathered there. While his aides managed to flee, Khan was caught and was thrashed for several hours. We rescued him around 6am and rushed him to the hospital, where he later died,” a report said.
Gajendra Pal also commented and said that he tried to pacify the mob but they wouldn’t listen to him. “I didn’t want anyone to get hurt,” he said in the report.
Ever since Akhlaqs lynching in 2015 in Dadri, UP has seen systemic and consistent mob violence where maximum victims are Muslim men. “Over the eight years since 2012, 29 persons have been killed in cow-related hate violence, 25 of whom were Muslim. Until 2015, 76 per cent or 13 of 17 cow-related hate crimes were reported from northern India. Since then, during 2016 and 2017 to-date, more incidents have been reported from the east, west and south of the country,” a report by IndiaSpend said.
This incident comes close to the Hapur lynching incident where a man was murdered and another critically injured by a mob on the suspicion of cow slaughter. In July, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that incidents of mob lynching are being given unnecessary importance. “We will provide protection to everyone, but it is also the responsibility of every individual, every community and every religion to respect each other sentiments. Humans are important and cows are also important. Both have their own roles in nature. Everyone should be protected,” he had said.
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