Muslim man beaten up on suspicion of theft, forced to chant Jai Shree Ram, succumbs to injuries

Mangalore Today News Network

June 24, 2019: A Muslim man was attacked by a mob in Kharsawan district of Jharkhand on the suspicion of theft on June 18. He was beaten up mercilessly for over 18 hours before being handed over to the police. He succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital on June 22. The victim has been identified as 24-year-old Tabrez Ansari.

 

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".

According to the reports, Tabrez was handed over to the police on June 18 after being beaten up by the mob and was in the judicial custody since that day. He was taken to a hospital on June 22 after his condition worsened.

One of the accused, identified as Pappu Mandal, has been arrested following Tabrez Ansari’s death.

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. His family had also arranged his wedding during his visit.

On the night of June 18, he left his village for Jamshedpur with two men. Aurungzeb Ansari, a Jharkhand-based activist, has claimed that Tabrez was unaware where the two men were taking him. Ansari told HuffPost India that Tabrez was manipulated into going with them.

While the two men fled the scene, the mob caught Tabrez and started beating him up. "Ghar mein ghusega [You will enter the house?]," one of the men is heard asking Tabrez.

Tabrez is, however, heard denying the charges and saying that the two other men did and he was asked to wait near the motorcycle. "I did not know anything," he said. Towards the end of one of the videos, one of the men asks him to chant "Jai Shri Ram" and "Jai Hanuman".

An FIR has been filed in the Jharkhand lynching case and the search for the other accused is on.