‘Gumla tribals thrashed by mob booked for carving dead ox’

Ranchi: Police have booked four tribal men attacked by a mob in Gumla district on April 10 under the Jharkhand Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter) Act, 2005, even though they were carving a dead ox, activists said on Thursday.
In the attack, Prakash Lakda of Jurmu village was lynched by the mob from the neighbouring Jairagi village. Three other victims — Peter Kerketta, Belarius Minj and Janerius Minj — sustained severe injuries.

Lakda was the 11th person to be lynched in the state by mobs in the name of cow protection or other such issues over the last five years.

On April 14, rights group Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha sent a fact-finding team to the villages and shared the video clips of interviews they conducted to understand what led to the violence.

Jakherius Kujur, owner of the dead ox, told them that he had given the carcass of the animal to the four tribals. “The ox went missing on April 9, and we later found it dead. Like always, I asked some people from the Lohra and Ghasi tribes, who traditionally feed on dead bulls, to take the carcass as flies were swarming all over it,” he said.

The tribals rushed to the ox to dress it and have a feast. Kerketta, who is undergoing treatment in Ranchi, told TOI that they use the hide of dead animals to make drums. “For centuries, members of the Sahu and other Hindu communities have been asking us to use the meat and hide of dead animals. There has never been any debate or doubt over the issue,” he said.

Taramani Sahu and Siraj, members of the fact-finding team, said: “The victims’ families have said that 30-odd people from Jairagi village — dominated by the Sahu community — attacked the tribals and dragged them around for a kilometre. While others managed to escape, the four tribals, all Christians, were forced to shout slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Jai Bajrang Bali’ while being paraded through the village.”

The team also raised questions on police inaction on the night the mob attacked the villagers and dumped the four tribals in front of Dumri police station around midnight. They said that police did not attend to the injured till early morning. By the time they were taken to the Dumri primary health centre, Lakda, 50, had died.

“The assailants took the victims on a bus to Dumri police station. On the way, when the injured asked for water, they offered them urine to drink,” Afzal Anees, another member of the fact-finding team, said.

Investigating officer Ranjit Kumar said police have lodged two separate FIRs — one against the four tribals and 18 unknown persons for cow slaughter and cruelty to animal, and another against seven people from Jairagi village and 30 unknown persons for the mob attack. “We are yet to find the owner of the ox to record his statement. Investigation is on,” he said. He also rejected the fact-finding team’s charge that delay in treatment led to Lakda’s death.

Both the villages fall under the Lohardaga Lok Sabha constituency, the home of Union minister of state for tribal affairs Sudarshan Bhagat, who is once again contesting from the seat on a BJP ticket. The block is also home to BJP MLA Shiv Shankar Oraon. While Bhagat has not visited the villages yet, Oraon met the assailants and the victims’ families and is waiting for the police investigation to be complete.

“I have told the police that anyone who is innocent should not be troubled and those who have committed any sort of crime should be punished,” Oraon said. Bhagat, who is busy on the campaign trail, did not respond to several phone calls and text messages.