KHARSAWAN: A 24-year-old man named Tabrez Ansari died four days after allegedly beaten up mercilessly by a mob for hours on the suspicion of theft.
According to reports, the incident took place in Jharkhand’s Kharsawan district on the night of June 18 when the deceased Tabrez left his village for Jamshedpur with two men, who have a ‘dubious’ reputation in the neighborhood.
A Jharkhand-based activist Aurungzeb Ansari told HuffPost India that the background of the two men was slightly sketchy which Tabrez is not aware of. And therefore, they manipulated him into going with them since he did not know them very well.
The mob caught him for allegedly attempting to steal a motorcycle and he was ill-treated by the villagers. Later he was handed over to the police and since June 18, he was in the judicial custody. Four days later on June 22, Ansari succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital.
Delhi-based social activist Nadeem Khan has shared the brutal video of the assault on his Facebook wall.
In the video, the mob caught hold of Tabrez also comment on two of his accomplices who fled the spot. “My mother is dead. I am a Muslim, I am swearing on my mother, I did not…,” Tabrez is heard saying.
Another Muslim lynched in Jharkhand. In Saraikela village of Kharsawan district. Badly beaten by mob and asked to chant Jai Shri Ram and Jai Hanuman. Died in hospital. Had come home to celebrate Eid. New Jharkhand and New India in making. @Dipankar_cpiml @HemantSorenJMM pic.twitter.com/m42DbkZQDT
— Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (@JharkhandJanad1) June 23, 2019
Police arrested primary accused identified as Pappu Mandal following Tabrez’s death and named 100 unidentified people in its FIR lodged by Shaista Parveen, Ansari’s wife.
Tabrez, who worked in Pune as a welder and a labourer had come to his village to celebrate Eid with his family.
The news of Tabrez’s death came the day the Ministry of External Affairs rejected an official report released by the United States that said mob attacks by “violent extremist Hindu groups” against minority communities, particularly Muslims continued throughout the year (2018) amid rumors that victims had traded or killed cows for beef.