Municipality employees in Pratapgarh near Bagwasa Kachi Basti in Rajasthan allegedly beat a man to death on Friday after he tried to stop them from taking photographs of women who were defecating in the open.
The man, activist Zafar Khan, tried to stop the men from scaring the women.
The municipality employees kicked, punched and beat Khan with a stick, which led to his death, according to the FIR lodged by Khan's elder brother Noor Mohammed.
We have lodged an FIR under IPC Section 302 (murder) against Nagar Parishad Commissioner Ashok Jain and municipal employees Kamal Harijan, Ritesh Harijan and Manish Harijan following a complaint by the family of Zafar Hussain, 44, who died on Friday morning after an alleged assault by these government employees.Mangi Lal Bishnoi, Pratapgarh Station House Officer to The Indian Express
My brother Zafar… asked them not to click photographs but the men started assaulting him with lathis, and punched and kicked him. He fell and died on the spot. All the people present at the spot, including the women, can identify the men who killed my brother.The complaint filed by Noor Mohammed read, as reported by The Indian Express
SHO, Pratapgarh Kotwali, Mangilal Bishnoi said that the body has been kept at district hospital for postmortem. Police have been deployed considering the sensitivity of the matter and to maintain law and order.
Allegation Denied by Municipality Employees
According to The Indian Express, Jain denied the allegations.
He said as part of the government’s Swachh Bharat initiative, he and his team were informing people about the ills of open defecation. This is when a man rushed towards them and started hitting and abusing employees.
He went home and we continued with our campaign. However, when we went to the station to lodge a complaint, we came to know of his death. We did not click any objectionable photographs nor did we assault him. He was fine when he left.Nagar Parishad Commissioner Ashok Jain to The Indian Express
The case is under investigation and no arrests have been made yet.
Khan Had Written Of Bullying Of Women
According to Scroll, the man was from the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). The party issued a press release on Friday condemning his alleged murder.
The statement said the incident showed how a clean India initiative was being used as an excuse for lynch mob attacks and attacks on women’s dignity and rights.
Calling for the arrest of the municipal commissioner, the release said Khan had submitted a memorandum to the Nagar Parishad protesting against the campaign of “public shaming and bullying of women” who were defecating in the open.
Video Editor: Sandeep Suman
(With inputs from PTI)
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