Muslim man called “terrorist”, lynched in Saharanpur
Saharanpur (UP) June 23 : A video of a Muslim man being lynched emerged on social media on 21 June. The incident happened on June 18 in Dehra village near Deoband town of Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh.
In the video a mob can be seen shouting and hitting Israr, the victim, with sticks as he lies covered with muck in a moribund state.
Police have filed an FIR under various sections including murder and rioting naming a group of villagers. But the police have also held the deceased responsible for instigating the mob.
The family members of the deceased told police they witnessed Israr being beaten with sticks, iron rods and sharp objects “with the intention of murder.”
When victim’s brothers knew about the incident through a phone call they rushed to the spot to rescue him but when they pleaded before the mob to stop “they did not listen to us and kept hitting him.” Muntayaz recounts in the police complaint “My brother was kept tied with ropes.”
The police also reached after being informed. They escorted a bleeding Israr to a local hospital in Deoband where he succumbed to his injuries.
According to Saharanpur Police, Israr hit a boy in village Imliya with a sickle at around 6.30 p.m. on June 18 and fled with the victim’s motorcycle. When he reached Dehra village, 4 km-5 km away, he allegedly attacked another boy with a sickle on his neck twice. Upon seeing the bloodied boy fall to the ground, angry villagers surrounded Israr and thrashed him badly, said Station House Officer Deoband Y. D. Sharma.
But Israr’ brother Mr. Gulfam said his brother was beaten up without any reason.
The family told the media that the mob shouted the word “terrorist” while they were chasing and beating him. “They called him a terrorist even as we told them we live in a neighbouring village,” his brother said in a video interview to a local media outlet. “They accused us (Muslims) of spreading coronavirus,” he said.
