Mere days after the anti-lynching law was passed in Jharkhand, a Muslim youth was allegedly beaten up and hung upside down by a Hindutva mob.
The boy, Sajid, was thrashed by the Hindutva mob in Palamu, for allegedly having an “affair” with a Hindu girl. The video that surfaced on Twitter showed the boy hanging by his feet from a tree, crying and pleading for mercy, as a group of people stood around and recorded the incident.
The mob also allegedly cut his hair before hanging him from the tree. The police were alerted after the video surfaced on the internet.
The government of Jharkhand on Tuesday passed the Prevention of Mob Violence and Mob Lynching Bill, 2021, in the assembly even after which, the unfortunate incident took place.
The bill aims to provide “effective protection” of constitutional rights and the prevention of mob violence in the state.
Although the bill had been criticised as ‘anti-Jharkhand’ by BJP leaders, it was passed and has been sent to the governor for approval. Once notified, Jharkhand will become the fourth state to bring in such a law after West Bengal, Rajasthan and Manipur.
The bill defined lynching as “any act or series of acts of violence or death or aiding, abetting or attempting an act of violence or death, whether spontaneous or planned, by a mob on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, language, dietary practices, sexual orientation, political affiliation, ethnicity or any other ground”.