"Killed For Being Muslim": Youth Lynched In Uttar Pradesh Over Alleged Cow Slaughter
Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh: The menace of killing people in the name of alleged cow smuggling and slaughtering has been continuing unabated in India, despite hope that an alliance-dependent NDA government would be able to reduce the insecurity of the Muslims. Continuing the spate of mob lynching, another Muslim man in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad was lynched on Monday.
The miscreants assaulted man, Shahedeen Qureshi, with batons and rods. Though the police arrived at the spot and took the 29-year-old victim to the hospital, he succumbed to his injuries in the early hours of Tuesday. The police claimed that a group of “unidentified” persons caught the victim slaughtering a cow on the premises of the Mandi Samiti in Moradabad.
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Lamenting the death of her husband, Quraishi’s wife asks, “Who gave them the right to take a human life over the death of an animal? Who are they to take law into their own hands,” quotes The Print.
The media house cited a relative of the victim saying that Quraishi was working hard at night to earn extra as he had to feed his family. Qureshi was living with his young family in a rented accommodation. “This killing is not about the legality of cow slaughter. He was killed for being a Muslim,” the news portal quoted a relative of the victim, adding that one of the sons of Qureshi, out of anger, stated that what occurred to his father should happen to the perpetrators too.
According to the additional Superintendent of Police (City), Ran Vijay Singh, Qureshi had three associates, who fled the area when the mob arrived to assault them.
After the victim’s brother, Muhammed Alam, filed a police complaint, a murder case has been registered against unidentified persons under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. However, no one has been arrested in the case so far. Alam claimed that some persons took away Qureshi from his home and that they were responsible for his death. The police have also insisted that it is not a case of mob lynching, noting that sections pertaining to lynching not added as the accused didn’t know the victim’s religion.
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Ironically, the police have also filed a case against victim Qureshi and his associates under the Cow Slaughter Act, and one of them was also arrested in the case, according to a report by The Indian Express. The arrest of the victim of the mob lynching attempt has raised eyebrows, as many believe it would contribute to emboldening the culprits to carry out cold-blooded murders on suspicion of cow smuggling.
A post-mortem examination of Qureshi’s body was carried out, and the autopsy report is expected to be completed on Wednesday.
The spate of mob lynching even after the present weakened BJP government has been shattering small bubbles of optimism that the minorities in India felt after the general election. The results were perceived to bring about a reduction in the religiously motivated attacks and swift action from the government against the accused reining Hindutva miscreates and ensuring inclusiveness. On the contrary, there has been an increase in attacks against minorities, which many allege is a vengeance from the ruling dispensation after the election.
