Indian police drop murder charges against all accused in Tabrez Ansari lynching case
About four months after the lynching of young Tabrez Ansari, police of Indian state Jharkhand have dropped murder charges against all the eleven accused involved in the case.
The police said it was not a deliberate murder and the victim did not die at the spot. Tabrez Ansari’s wife had filed a case against the suspects.
According to The Indian Express, Karthik S, Saraikela-Kharsawan SP said, “We filed a chargesheet under IPC section 304 because of two reasons. One, he did not die at the spot… the villagers did not have any intent to kill Ansari. Second, the medical report did not substantiate the murder charge. The final post-mortem report said Ansari died due to cardiac arrest and that a haemorrhage in the head was not fatal. The second medical opinion said the cause of the death was a combination of cardiac arrest and the head injury.”
The arrested accused are Prakash Mandal alias Pappu Mandal, Kamal Mahato, Sunamo Pradhan, Premchand Mahali, Sumant Mahato, Madan Nayak, Chamu Nayak, Mahesh Mahali, Kunal Mahali, Satyanarayan Nayak, Bhim Sen Mandal, Vikram Mandal and Atul Mahali.
Also Read: Increasing religious hatred in India; a young Muslim man beaten to death by a mob
Days after being badly beaten by a mob, the young Muslim man in India had passed away in June.
Hindu vigilantes had assaulted Tabrez Ansari on June 18 and coerced him to say Hindu chants. They had alleged him of stealing a motorcycle from a house in Jharkhand state.
Several video of the mob attacking the 22-year-old man with sticks had been doing rounds following his death.
In one video people could be seen forcing him to say “Jai Hanuman” and “Jai Shri Ram” (victory to Hanuman and victory to Shri Ram). Hanuman and Shri Ram are Hindu gods.
Ansari was later reported to police and when police officials arrived he was found tied to a tree. Police alleged that the man admitted to stealing the motorbike along two other accomplices who had managed to flee.
