In yet another case of hate crimes in the country, a 22-year-old Muslim boy was hacked to death by his ‘friends’ in Haryana.
In a video that has been doing rounds on the internet, the victim, Rahul Khan has been beaten to pulp in blood-covered clothes, as people can be heard saying, “Hum Hindu hai Hindu, tu Mulla hai Mulla” as they kept kicking a physically drained Khan.
The last time Khan was seen alive by his family was before his friends took him away demanding a treat despite his unwillingness.
Khan was taken away by Kalua, Akash, and others on December 13 and his whereabouts were known only on December 14. Khan’s relative, Akram, received a call from Kalua stating that he (Khan) had met with an accident.
“I went to Kalua’s house after the phone call. To my surprise, I was abused. They said: ‘Mulla, tu ab agya , tujhe bhi mardene.’ (If you come again, you will also be killed.) This scared me and I ran off,” said Akram to Maktoob Media.
The family then shifted Khan to a hospital where six hours later, he breathed his last.
They filed a complaint with the police based on Kalua’s statement that Khan’s condition was due to an accident. But in the morning of December 15, they came across the video in which a badly injured Khan can be seen being beaten up mercilessly.
“His body was in a bad situation, it seems he was beaten with an axe and rods,” said Akram.
The post mortem reports show multiple traumatic injuries to parts of his body including his head, legs, and eyes.
A First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged under IPC 209 (Dishonestly making false claim in Court) and 304A (Causing death by negligence) at the Chandhat police station. According to the police, only one arrest has been made so far and the case is under investigation.
Another instance of anti-Muslim hate crime:
On August 22, a 25-year-old bangle seller Tasleem was brutally beaten up by a group of men in a crowded street in the Banganga area in Indore. The video of the incident had gone viral on social media. However, within 24 hours of the purported incident of assault, Tasleem was booked for allegedly touching a 13-year-old girl inappropriately, among other offences.
Tasleem was arrested for the offences and was granted bail only on December 7, after three months of jail time.
Justice Sujoy Paul in his order sheet (granting bail to Tasleem) had observed that he was beaten by hooligans and then a counter FIR was registered after his complaint. Tasleem’s lawyer had also alleged that deliberate attempts were made by the prosecution to delay his bail.