A man was, yet again, brutally assaulted by a mob in Jharkhand, echoing the Tabrez Ansari mob lynching case which shook the nation in June 2019.
Raju Ansari was beaten up in the town of Gidi, Hazaribagh on the suspicion of theft. When the police arrived, instead of taking action against the mob, they appeared to be sympathetic with it. They even led the victim away without any clothes on him.
‘Started Attacking as Soon as They Heard His Name’
On 18 April, Raju Ansari, a resident of Patratu, Ramgarh, had gone to his in-laws' house in Gidi. According to his father Ali Jaan Ansari, when Raju was returning home later that night with his pregnant wife, the petrol in his bike ran out. It was around 11 pm.
He stopped to look for petrol when some people asked him his name. When he told them, they attacked him, his father claims. Videos of the incident also show people hurling insults at Raju, calling him a traitor and accusing him of spreading COVID-19.
“As soon as they heard the name, they started attacking him. He was beaten up without clothes, even in front of the police. My son kept saying he is innocent, but they didn’t relent. The police took Raju away without clothes.”Ali Jaan Ansari, Raju’s father
10-12 People Gathered During the Lockdown
There are several injuries on Raju's head, torso and even his privates. His family received news of the attack from the police station, after which, on Sunday, his father brought him home.
Surprisingly, he wasn't taken to a hospital by the police for treatment but was handed over to his family immediately. Eventually, when senior officers came to know of the incident, the police came to Raju's house and took him to RIMS hospital in Ranchi.
“The police came. They took him to RIMS in Ranchi; he’s there right now. SP saheb spoke to him over the phone asking where he had sustained injuries. Raju replied, ‘Sir, where all do I say where I’ve been injured.’”
The question remains: how was a mob of nearly a dozen people allowed to gather during a lockdown and why didn’t the police take immediate action against them.
FIR Registered, 4 Arrested
Hazaribagh SP Mayur Patel Kanhaiya Lal told The Quint that an FIR has been registered in this case and four people have been arrested so far. The police are looking for the other suspects. However, the SP refused to consider it a case of mob lynching as no one died.
Adil Hussain, the station in-charge of Patratu, where Raju resides, told The Quint that he does not have a criminal background and works as a labourer at a brick factory.
(Translated from Hindi. Read the original article here.)
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