New Delhi: A man allegedly beaten up by the husband of a former BJP councilor in Madhya Pradesh’s Neemuch, and later found to be dead, had been suffering from mental health issues and had been missing for the past few days, his family has claimed.
A video in which a man in a red shirt appeared to be slapping an older person had gone viral on social media Friday. The person who appeared to have been slapped was later identified as Bhanwar Lal Jain by his family, a resident of Sarsi village, in MP’s Ratlam district.
The man who appeared to be slapping Jain was identified as Dinesh Kushwaha on social media. He was arrested Saturday evening.
In the video Kushwaha appeared to be asking Jain for his name and aadhar card, as he slapped him. At one point he asks Jain whether his name was “Mohammad”, as the other appeared to be mumbling something.
Neemuch superintendent of police Sooraj Kumar told ThePrint that there was no prima facie evidence that Jain was beaten up over the suspicion of having a Muslim name.
“He (Kushwaha) was asking for the old man’s correct name, as he might have thought that the person looked suspicious sitting in his mohalla at an odd hour. Until the probe is completed, there is no way to know if he was actually beaten on the suspicion that he was a Muslim,” Kumar told ThePrint over the phone.
Soon after the video went viral, it was also revealed that the man who appeared to have been slapped had been found dead Thursday night.
While police sources confirmed that a post mortem of the body has been conducted, the report is yet to be released. An FIR under sections 302 and 304 (II) of the Indian Penal Code (murder) was registered based on a complaint registered by the deceased’s family, they said.
K.L. Dangi, SHO of Manasa police station told ThePrint that an FIR of “murder” was registered against Kushwaha.
According to police, Kushwaha, a resident of MP’s Manasa village, is the husband of former BJP councilor of Manasa municipality, Beena Kushwaha. Bhanwar Lal Jain’s family too claim association with the BJP.
Earlier in the day, Manasa police had told ThePrint that Kushwaha was absconding and a team had been sent to Beena Kushwaha’s parents’ home in Haanspur village in Neemuch district to search for him.
Sarpanch’s son, family related to BJP
Jain’s 86-year-old mother, Pistabai, is the sarpanch of Sarsi. Another family member, Ajit Chattar, is a former BJP councilor, claimed the deceased’s nephew, Charchit Jain.
Talking to ThePrint, Charchit said that the family was upset that Kushwaha was still absconding. “We are being assured (by the police) that he will be arrested soon, but can mere assurance bring justice?” he asked.
According to his nephew, the Jain family had gone to visit the Chittorgarh Fort in Rajasthan on 15 May. The next day Jain was found to be missing. Charchit claimed the family had registered an FIR in Chittorgarh, complaining that he was missing, and also posted on social media about his disappearance.
On the night of 19 May, they received a call from Manasa government hospital about an unidentified dead body, which the family then identified as Jain’s.
According to the family, they got to know about the viral video just after his cremation. According to reports in local media, the video had been shared by Kushwaha on Whatsapp groups.
“In the video my uncle is clearly saying he is Bhanwar, but Dinesh (Kushwaha) kept calling him Mohammed and slapped him. He also took Rs 200 from him and still kept beating him,” alleged his nephew.
He added: “My uncle did not have an aadhar card when he asked for one. He had no right to beat my uncle like this, when it was clearly visible he was not in a good state mentally. He should have reported him to the police station if he found him suspicious.”
“Where was his humanity, he had no mercy. Even if he is the husband of a councilor, that doesn’t mean he can beat up innocent citizens like this,” Jain told ThePrint.
The family claimed they do not know Kushwaha.
Meanwhile, a local newspaper Saturday quoted Kushwaha as saying that he saw Jain sitting and found him suspicious. He slapped him twice and was taking him to the police station, but Jain allegedly ran away and he did not know what happened afterwards.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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