Unnao’s Mohammad Sharif Killing: A tale of grief, injustice, and systemic bias

In the quiet town of Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, the vibrant colours of Holi turned into a sombre shroud of mourning for the family of Mohammad Sharif on March 15, 2025. What began as a day of festivity for many ended in tragedy for Sharif, a 48-year-old Muslim man who had returned to his hometown just two months prior after spending 12 years working as a water tanker driver in Saudi Arabia. His death, allegedly at the hands of a group of Holi revellers, has sparked outrage, exposed deep-seated tensions, and raised troubling questions about justice, police conduct, and communal harmony in the state.

According to posts on X by @HindutvaWatchIn, “Mohammad Sharif, 53, died after an altercation with Holi revellers who allegedly assaulted him when he objected to being forcibly smeared with colours” on March 15 in Unnao.

Link: https://x.com/HindutvaWatchIn/status/1903426684352606593

This aligns with family accounts but contrasts with the police narrative of a heart attack. Furthermore, AIMIM Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi expressed outrage on X, stating, “Unnao’s Sharif was beaten to death. His crime? He objected to being forcibly smeared with Holi colour,”

The Incident: a fatal encounter

Sharif, a resident of Qasim Nagar, was no stranger to hard work or resilience. The sole breadwinner for his wife, Raushan Bano, their five daughters—two of whom are married—and a minor son, he had spent over a decade abroad to secure a better future for his family. On that fateful morning, while fasting for Ramadan, Sharif stepped out in an auto-rickshaw, reportedly heading toward a dairy near Sheetla Mata Temple, just beyond Chota Chauraha. It was around noon when his path crossed with a group of revellers celebrating Holi, the festival of colours.

According to his family, the encounter quickly escalated from playful to perilous. The group allegedly attempted to forcibly smear Sharif with colours, an act he resisted. His nephew, Mohammad Shamim, recounted the scene based on witness accounts to Hindustan Times, “He was being heckled, and the revellers were determined to apply colours. When I reached the site, my uncle was requesting them not to do so. The issue seemed settled then, but later, many of them caught hold of him again” Hindustan Times reported

Witnesses told Shamim that Sharif was repeatedly slapped, a brutal assault that left him struggling to breathe. Moments later, he collapsed.

Bystanders intervened, pulling Sharif from the fray and offering him water as he sat on a nearby platform. But the relief was fleeting—Sharif soon succumbed, his body going limp in the arms of those who tried to save him. His daughter, Bushra, spoke with raw anguish to Maktoob Media. “They beat my father so brutally that he struggled to breathe. He was beaten to death. They also took the money he was carrying,” as reported by Maktoob Media on X

Taken to a hospital, Sharif was declared dead on arrival, leaving his family shattered and his community reeling.

The official narrative vs. family claims

The Unnao Police, under the Kotwali Sadar jurisdiction, swiftly took custody of Sharif’s body and ordered a post-mortem, conducted with videography by a panel of doctors. The report, as cited by the police, concluded that Sharif died of cardiac arrest, with no visible injury marks on his body. Additional SP Akhilesh Singh emphasized to Hindustan Times, “The police are investigating this case. There is no law-and-order problem as such” reported HT. The official stance suggested a natural death, starkly contrasting the family’s allegations of a violent assault.

This discrepancy ignited a firestorm of scepticism and anger. A relative, speaking anonymously to Maktoob Media, dismissed the post-mortem findings, “Bystanders saw him being thrashed. They spoke to the media, saying it happened right in front of them. How can there be no injury marks on his body?” reported Maktoob Media.

The family refused to allow the autopsy until the culprits were arrested, a stance that persisted into the late evening as police and administrative officers worked to persuade them otherwise.

Based on Minhaz, Sharif’s brother-in-law’s initial complaint, an FIR was filed against four named individuals—Kishan, Amarpal, Munnu, and Sanjay—along with others unidentified, under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) including Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), Section 352 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace), and Section 190 (constructive liability within an unlawful assembly). Three individuals were detained, but no arrests followed, leaving the family’s demand for justice unmet.

A funeral turned flashpoint

Sharif’s death sent shockwaves through Qasim Nagar and beyond, drawing a large crowd to his funeral that night. Around 11:45 PM on March 15, as the procession reached the Lucknow-Kanpur highway near IBP Chauraha, mourners placed Sharif’s body in the middle of the road, blocking traffic.

What the family saw as a rightful expression of grief and outrage, the police framed as a disturbance. On March 16, a second FIR was lodged—this time against 117 individuals, including Sharif’s relatives Minhaz, Sameem, and Shadab, along with 100 unidentified persons. The charges included rioting (Section 191(2)), disobedience to a public servant’s order (Section 223), abetment (Section 49), obstructing a public servant (Section 221), and causing obstruction in a public way (Section 285) under the BNS. Investigating Officer SI Brajesh Kumar Yadav confirmed no arrests had been made, but the FIR itself felt like a betrayal to the grieving family.

Minhaz, now both a complainant and an accused, voiced his disbelief to Maktoob Media from the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, where he was preparing to file two writ petitions against the Uttar Pradesh Police, said, “I don’t understand what kind of system this is. We lost a family member. We filed a complaint against those who assaulted Sharif, leading to his death, and now the police have booked us instead of taking action against the accused,” as reported by Maktoob Media

The incident unfolded against a backdrop of heightened communal sensitivity, with Holi coinciding with Jumu’ah Namaz on March 14, prompting increased security across Uttar Pradesh. Shahr Qazi Saqib Adeeb Misbahi, who travelled from Kanpur to mediate, as per Clarion India, “Such an incident has never occurred before in Unnao’s history. Holi passed off peacefully in the district until this” as per Clarion India. He affirmed the administration’s promise of a thorough investigation, yet the family’s plight suggested a deeper malaise.

UP CM Yogi Adityanath said, Muslims are the safest in UP

Amid the controversy, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in an ANI podcast on March 26, claimed, “Muslims are the safest in UP.” He argued that a Muslim family among Hindus enjoys safety and religious freedom, contrasting it with the vulnerability of Hindus among Muslim majorities, citing Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan as examples. “Before 2017, riots were happening in UP—Hindu shops were burning, and Muslim shops were also burning. But after 2017, riots stopped,” he added.

A Family’s Plea

For Sharif’s family, the fight is personal. Left without their provider, they demand the arrest of all accused, monetary compensation, and a job for Sharif’s minor son. The post-mortem report and police FIRs have only deepened their sense of injustice, turning their grief into a public battle against a system they feel has failed them. As protests flared and Rapid Response Teams descended on Unnao, the question lingered: in a state claiming safety for all, why does justice feel so elusive for Mohammad Sharif’s kin?

The Unnao tragedy is more than a single death—it’s a mirror to a society grappling with bias, accountability, and the fragile threads of coexistence. For now, Minhaz stands at the courthouse, petitions in hand, seeking answers in a system that seems to have turned its back on his family’s pain.

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