Shams Tabrez was also forced to chant ‘Jai Sri Ram’ and ‘Jai Hanuman’ by the mob
Tabrez Ansari worked in Pune as a welder and a labourer and had come to his village in Jharkhand’s Kharsawan district to celebrate Eid with his family. (Photo: Twitter)
AGENCIES / JAMSHEDPUR
In another horrible incident in BJP ruled Jharkhand, a man accused of stealing a motorcycle died days after being beaten up by a mob.
According to reports, Tabrez, 24, was caught by a mob on Tuesday evening, tied to a pole and beaten for more than seven hours. He was then handed over to the police on Wednesday morning after he fell unconscious and was also forced to chant ‘Jai Sri Ram’ and ‘Jai Hanuman’ by the mob, his family says. Cellphone videos of the beating are being widely circulated in the area.
Several videos of the Jharkhand mob lynching have gone viral since the incident. In one of the videos, a man is seen hitting Tabrez Ansari with a wooden stick as the latter begs him to let him go. Another video showed Tabrez being forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram” and “Jai Hanuman”.
The relatives of Shams Tabrez said their request for his proper treatment was ignored by the police. They have demanded that action be taken against the police and the mob which beat him up near the border of Jharkhand’s Seraikela-Kharsawan and East Singhbhum districts.
After an initial check-up at a local hospital, police sent him to the district’s Seraikela jail. When his condition deteriorated, he was taken to the district’s Sadar hospital, where he was declared dead.
Family members, after refusing to believe he died, were referred to a private hospital in Jamshedpur. Officials in Tata Main Hospital or TMH, where Shams Tabrez was later taken, also said he died.
According to the police, Shams Tabrez had “fallen ill” and had died in Tata Main Hospital. An FIR has been filed following a complaint from his relatives and further investigation is underway, they said.
A relative of Shams Tabrez said he going back home to Seraikela-Kharsawan’s Karsova from Jamshedpur, along with some friends on Tuesday. They were attacked by a mob barely 5 km from his home.
“There, a motorcycle theft took place and these people were passing by… so the villagers caught them and then beat him up very badly. There were two friends with him who ran away,” the relative said.
Shams Tabrez, he said, was “beaten up the whole night” and then handed over to the police in the morning.
The doctors said the man was in coma when he was brought to Sadar hospital. “According to us, he was deeply comatose. We wanted to take an ECG to be sure, But the family wasn’t ready to face reality,” Variyal Mardi, a senior doctor, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Hyderabad politician Asaduddin Owaisi tweeted about the incident. “This is the pattern with almost all lynchings. First, a Muslim is murdered by cow lovers. Then the most ridiculous excuses begin: a ‘suspicion’ of beef possession, theft, smuggling & love jihad So much for sabka vishwas when we can be killed over mere ‘suspicions’,” he said.