In Jharkhand, mob makes Muslim man chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ before lynching him, video of crime surfaces 

This screenshot taken from a viral video shows a petrified Tabrez Ansari during his lynching.

New Delhi: A Muslim man suspected of stealing a bike was tied to a pole and brutally beaten for hours by a mob in Dhatkidih village of Jharkhand’s Seraikela Kharsawan district last week. The man, Tabrez Ansari, 22, died of his injuries later, on Saturday.

Following Ansari’s death, a video surfaced over the weekend in which he was seen being tied to a pole with members of a mob beating him mercilessly as he cried to spare his life. In the video, his tormentors making him to chant “Jai Shri Ram” and “Jai Hanuman” as they beat him for hours. In the video, Ansari is seen begging for his life as the mob brutalized him.

The video, which is now being widely circulated on social media, has triggered a countrywide outrage. Many activists, citizens and politicians have come out to denounce the crime and expressed their concern on the rise of such incidents across the country.  

Incidentally, this happened around the same time when the US state department has released a report that says Hindu extremism and hate crimes against minorities are on the rise in India.

According to media reports citing local sources, Ansari was tortured for over 10 hours before the mob handed him to the police in a grievously injured state, on Friday. On Saturday morning, as Ansari’s health deteriorated, police took him to Sadar Hospital and then to Tata Main Hospital in Jamshedpur, where he was declared “brought dead”.

According to the Saraikela Kharsawa superintendent of police, Karthik S, the police reached the spot where Ansari was tied and beaten, at around 6am. They took him to a police post. Court documents say Ansari’s statement was recorded at 9.30am where he admitted he stole the bike with two other men, who fled from the spot as the mob arrived. After his confessional statement, he was produced in a court, which remanded him in judicial custody.

Kamal Mahato, the man who filed the complaint against Ansari told the police that he and some of his family members woke up to a sound at around 2am and found three man on the rooftop of his neighbour’s house. Mahato said when he raised an alarm, the three jumped from the rooftop. Two escaped, but Ansari, who hurt his leg, couldn’t. Ansari hid in a bush, but the villagers found him.

The police complaint states that the villagers found a motorcycle without a registration number, a wallet and a mobile phone, which was later identified as stolen.

The complaint says the police were called and Ansari was handed over to them. However, there is no mention of the assault in the complaint or in the FIR, which was filed subsequently. Only after the video of Ansari’s torture surfaced, the fact became known.

Ansari’s uncle Maqsood Alam said his nephew did not have any criminal record. He said, “Let us assume he was caught for theft, but tying him up and beating him for hours and then asking him to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ is shocking … His mistake was that he was a Muslim, otherwise he would have been alive.”

Ansari’s family also demanded answers from police on why the assault was not mentioned in the “confession statement”, which was produced before the court.

Seraikela Kharsawan deputy commissioner Chaavi Ranjan said he has ordered an inquest into Ansari’s death. Talking to reporters, Ranjan said, “On reaching there, our officer said he was breathing and was being taken to another hospital …We have ordered an inquiry and will find out lapses, if any, on part of the police or doctors.”

Ranjan then added, “All perpetrators will be booked, justice will be done.”

According to the latest reports, the police have lodged a case against the villagers under Sections 302 (murder) and Section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religions or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code. They have also slapped out sections of the IPC against the villagers.

Police said five people have been arrested in connection with the case, so far.

Confirming the arrests, SP Karthik S said, “The officer in charge of Kharsawan Police station and one assistant sub-inspector have been suspended for not understanding the gravity of the matter. We have also arrested five villagers in connection with the same.”

Video of Tabrez Ansari’s lynching. Disturbing images, viewer discretion is advised:

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