News Delhi: 25-year-old cattle trader, Shokin Ali along with other five were beaten up by cow vigilantes in Jharoda village, located in South-West Delhi on Friday night. The cow protectors tied his hands, pinned him to the ground and beat him, while he begged for mercy from the mob.
“At one point I felt as if we will all be dead. We were only six and they were 60-70. They tied our hands and beat us with belts, sticks and whatever they could find. After two hours, the police came and rescued us. Some policemen were also roughed up but it is because of them that we are alive today,” he said.
Shokin was accompanied by his 22-year-old brother and 15-year-old nephew. They had bought 17 buffalo calves from Jhajjar, Haryana earlier in the day. They were transporting the cattle to Ghazipur for selling them, reports HT.
Shokin said his vehicle was initially stopped by a policeman on a bike, who asked him to cough up some money for letting him pass. “By the time some people gathered there. I told the policeman to take us to the thana (police station) and not leave us there with the mob as I was scared, but he left,” Shokin alleged.
Shokin’s teenage nephew distinctly remembers the abuses hurled at him and his elder brothers.
“Woh log chilla rahe the ki ye mulleh hai, paapi hai inko maaro (They were shouting that these are Muslims and sinners, beat them),” he said.
Shokin and his family told that they only sell the Buffaloes. “How are we committing a sin? If people don’t sell these animals to us, then we won’t buy them. Most of the people selling the Buffaloes to us are Hindus,” said Ali Jaan.