A Sessions Court in Hapur, Uttar Pradesh, on Monday convicted 10 persons and sentenced them to life imprisonment in a lynching case of 2018 in which a mob killed a man after rumours of cow slaughter.
On June 18, 2018, 45-year-old Qasim was killed and 62-year-old Samiudeen was assaulted by a mob that accused them of cow slaughter, which is banned in Uttar Pradesh.
Mohammed Yasin, the younger brother of Samiudeen, told The Hindu that the kin of both Qasim and Samiudeen had submitted in court that they did not want a death sentence for the accused and maintained that they only sought justice and bore no enmity against anyone.
The judgment was pronounced by Additional District Judge Shweta Dixit. The convicts — Rakesh, Hariom, Yudhishthir, Rinku, Karanpal, Manish, Lalit, Sonu, Kaptan and Mangeram — would also have to pay fines of ₹58,000 each. The charges against them included murder, attempt to murder, unlawful assembly, rioting and promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion.
Qasim was attacked with a screwdriver and sickle in Bajera Khurd village by the mob. Post-mortem reports revealed that he had multiple bruises on his back, fractured ribs, and cuts on his shoulders, knees, abdomen and head. He had been accompanied by his friend Samiudeen who was also brutally assaulted. Samiudeen remained bedridden for months.
After the mob attack, there were confrontations between the two communities in the village, leading to communal tension.
The U.P. police initially claimed the assault to be an act of road rage. After videos of the crime showed the presence of policemen on the spot, a communique from the office of the Director General of Police offered an apology on X (formerly Twitter) and stated that an enquiry had been initiated against the policemen involved. The statement said that the policemen seen in the videos/pictures were taking the victims to hospital as an ambulance was not available then.
The family members of Qasim and Samiudeen hailed the court’s order but said they had travelled a long way to get justice. In the period of five years, the court had four rounds of arguments in the case as the judge was changed thrice.
Samiudeen had also filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking investigation in the matter. The top court had directed the Inspector General of Police (Meerut Range) to supervise the investigation based on the guidelines against mob lynching and hate crimes in the Tehseen Poonawalla judgment.
