It has been 14 days since 22-year-old Rahul Khan was lynched near Haryana’s Rasulpur village in the Palwal district. It was December 13, when Rahul’s friend Kalua knocked on the door at 9:30 pm and asked Rahul to give him a company to attend a wedding function nearby. Rahul despite his unwillingness left the house telling his mother that he will be back in ten minutes.
But little did he know that he would never return to his home and be a victim of yet another hate crime in the country.
Kaula took Rahul on the bridge of Rasulpura, where Kaula’s four friends were waiting to lynch Rahul Khan. Siasat.com reached out to the family of Rahul Khan over the phone to know how the family is coping up with the tragic loss. Rahul is survived by his wife, two elder sisters and elderly parents. His father Sajid Khan narrates the incidents of the night when his son was lynched.
Rahul Khan’s father narrates the events of that horrific night
Rahul’s father Sajid Khan narrates the incidents of the night when his son was lynched. Sajid said in the wee hours of December 14, he got a call from Kaula who told him that Rahul has met with a serious accident. After that, the family started going hospital to hospital to inquire about their so. Rahul’s mother Rajjo Khan ran from pillar to post in search of his son till noon.
After 3 o’clock in the afternoon, they found their son at Kaula’s home in very critical condition. The family immediately rushed to a government hospital nearby. His father said Rahul was hardly able to speak when doctors asked him what happened to him. “He could only say one word: accident,” said Sajid.
Sajid claims that it was very evident that it was not an accident, but brutal torture and gory murder. On being asked about Rahul’s condition at the hospital, Sajid broke down and handed over the phone to his wife Sajjo Khan.
Gory Murder
Rahul’s mother stated that not even an inch of his body was left unhurt. “My son’s head had three injuries. They had hit him with an axe. They had beaten him with iron rods, his ribs were fractured, his arms were dislocated. They had plucked his nails out from the root with a plier, his eyes and nose were filled with mud. There were marks of cigarette burns on his legs, and they had inserted iron nails in his feet,” his mother narrated and asked how can this be an accident.
A post-mortem report of the deceased mentions multiple traumatic injuries across the body — legs, head, and eyes. The cause of death in his post-mortem report was liver laceration.
By December 14 evening, a video started doing rounds on the internet, where Rahul Khan can be seen bleeding and severely injured. One of the attackers can also be heard calling the victim “Mulla” (a derogatory word used for Muslim men) and saying “Hindu hain hum (We are Hindu)” while repeatedly hitting Rahul on the face with a stick. That’s when Rahul’s family came to know that he was lynched.
Rahul’s wife narrates last moments with him
Rahul’s wife Shammo confronted him in the hospital, asking what happened last night? “Rahul said a group of people beat and tortured him. They threatened him if he revealed this to anyone, they will do the same to his entire family,” Shammo said while speaking to Siasat.com.
“I don’t know why they did this to me,” Rahul told his wife minutes before he breathed his last.
Kalua and his other friends were arrested by the police a few days later. Rahul Khan was laid to rest on December 19.
Day of celebration turns into lifetime of darkness
Rahul’s 65-year-old mother said that they bought a new house in Sarai Khatela village, and the family was supposed to move into the new house on December 14. “The day which we thought to celebrate and enjoy, it took from us everything,” she said.
“I sit on the doorsteps of my house every day waiting for my Rahul,” said the sobbing mother. “My son was a mechanic, and he was the bread and butter of the family. Like every mother I also wanted him to settle and have kids. But those murderers took away my heart,” she said.
Rahul Khan’s mother pleeds for justice
Mother of Rahul Khan pleads for help and justice. The family still does not have a lawyer to fight their son’s case, neither they have the financial capacity to hire a lawyer. Rajjo Khan works as a daily wage labourer and she is paid Rs 300 by the end of the day and her husband suffers from commodities, due to which cannot work anymore.
Appeal for help
Editor of The Siasat Daily Zahid Ali Khan, Trustee of Faiz e Aam Trust Iftekhar Hussain and former Rajya Sabha member Brinda Karat, on behalf of Rahul Khan’s mother Rajjo Khan, appeal to the readers of Siasat.com to come forward and help Rahul Khan’s family to come out and help the family financially so that the family can get justice.
Rajjo Khan’s bank account details
Name- Mr Chhiddi
Bank account number- 20648392004
IFSC code- IDIB000P542
Bank name- Allahabad Bank
Family contact number
Phone number- +91 8814869524 (No UPI transaction is available to this contact number)