New Delhi: A mob of men tied Zakir Qureshi with ropes and beat him with bats, rods, and wickets till the 25-year-old lost consciousness. The men, however, went on hitting and kicking Zakir and, when his elder brother, Nihaal, rushed to the scene to rescue him, thrashed him, as well.
The violence transpired on 11 May in Khanua Mohalla of Chhapra’s Ahitoli area in Bihar’s Saran district. The mob allegedly recovered stolen cattle from Kasai Toli (butchers’ area) and accused Zakir, a resident of Chhapra village, of the theft when they spotted him nearby.
A viral video of the assault purportedly shows the men hitting Zakir on his chest and face, kicking his legs, and pulling his hair.
When the news of the attack on Zakir spread in the village, Nihaal ran to the spot to save his younger brother. As the mob turned on him, he took their blows, but Zakir, who had bled profusely by then, later succumbed to his injuries in a local hospital. Nihaal is currently battling for his life in Patna Medical College Hospital.
“His (Nihaal’s) right hand is fractured, and his kidney is badly injured,” Ghulam Sarwar, a childhood friend of Zakir and living in his neighbourhood, told ThePrint over a call. When Nihaal reached his brother, he saw at least 60 men taking turns to beat Zakir, and the moment he tried to intervene, he came under attack, Sarwar said.
“All of them belonged to the Yadav community,” he added.
By the time other members of the Muslim community in the village ran to the site of the attack, Zakir, according to Sarwar, had suffered fractures to his spinal cord and both of his legs, besides multiple injuries to his chest and stomach. The mob eventually let go of the brothers on seeing people from their community, but the damage was done.
“He (Zakir) died because he could not tolerate the pain. We found him completely soaked in his blood,” Sarwar said.
Saran Police has shared a video of the assault on social media platforms, as part of their attempts to identify and catch the attackers. Superintendent of Police Kumar Ashish said Zakir Qureshi died in a violent incident between two communities in the village.
“Based on his brother’s statement, an FIR was lodged. The Nagar Town Police conducted raids through the night and arrested two men involved in the crime. We are tracing the others and will arrest them soon,” Kumar Ashish said.
Cattle theft, he added, was the reason behind the killing.
Sandeep Sharma, the station house officer (SHO) of the Nagar Town police station, told ThePrint that four men, so far, have landed in the police net and that the investigation is ongoing.
“Nine men were involved, but most fled their village immediately after the crime. The four arrested men have been charged with murder and mob lynching,” he said.
Based on Nihal’s statement, police registered an FIR under BNS sections 126(2) for wrongful restraint, 115(2) for voluntarily causing hurt, 125(B) for acting rashly to endanger human life, 109 for attempt to murder, 103(1) for punishment for murder, 352 for intentional insult to provoke breach of peace, 351(2) for criminal intimidation, and 3(5) for establishing joint criminal liability.
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‘Close to his parents, helpful’
The Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS), a Mumbai-based research and advocacy organisation, focusing on promoting secularism, communal harmony, and social justice has compiled a report on mob lynching incidents based on prominent newspapers, such as the Mumbai editions of The Times of India, The Hindu, Indian Express, Sahafat (Urdu), and Inquilab (Urdu).
According to the data released by CSSS in January this year, India witnessed 13 mob lynching incidents in 2024, resulting in 11 deaths—one Hindu, one Christian, and nine Muslims. “While this represents a decline from 21 incidents of mob lynching recorded in the year 2023, the persistence of these attacks remains a concern,” the report noted.
The decline in the number of incidents of mob lynching, it said, might be attributed to the guidelines of the Supreme Court in favour of strict action by the state in mob lynching cases. The report also suggested that seven of the lynching incidents in 2024 had links to cow vigilantism or accusations of cow slaughter.
On the evening of the day of Zakir’s murder, Muslim villagers hit the streets to protest.
The next day, villagers buried Zakir in the local graveyard on 12 May. A video shared with ThePrint showed hundreds of Muslims participating in Zakir’s final rites.
Zakir, the youngest among four brothers, was the closest to his ageing parents and took care of them from whatever little he earned as a daily wage worker. Zakir was enthusiastic about fitness, Sarwar said, adding that he was on his way to the gym when the mob attacked him.
Mohammad Ali, another friend of Zakir, told ThePrint that his death and his brother’s grave injuries have left their parents traumatised, not in a condition to speak even.
Recalling Zakir’s personality, Ali said he was simple, helpful, and did not pick fights with anyone. “You can ask anyone in the village. Everybody liked him,” he said, adding that the murder was over his identity.
“He was killed only because he was a Muslim.”
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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Akhilesh Yadav’s PDA (Public Display of Affection) seems to be working in full swing.