A 24-year-old man was reportedly beaten up by a mob in Haryana’s Rohtak, on suspicion of ‘cow smuggling’ on January 19. Naushad Muhammad, the victim, was heading to sell buffaloes when ‘Gau Rakshaks’ allegedly stopped him.
“It was around 8 pm. We had reached Rohtak’s Bhalout village when I was waylaid by one Jashpal Gumana, who had chased me his scooter,” Naushad told Firstpost, adding that Gumana overpowered him and shouted “cow smuggler” to attract the attention of nearby villagers. A little later, several youths allegedly arrived with sticks, tied Naushad to a pole, stripped him and beat him mercilessly.
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“Before I could understand what was going on, I was bleeding from the nose, ear, legs and back. One of the cow activists tortured me by burning a beedi on my skin and branding me a ‘cow smuggler’,” he said.
Naushad was taken away by policemen after two hours of this ordeal. The cops, however, allegedly “handcuffed” him and tied him to a bed with a chain. “I kept pleading with the police to take me to a doctor,” he said.
As per reports, a case has been lodged against Muhammad and two others under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, and the Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act.
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Local civil society members, however, confronted the police — as per Firstpost. Advocate Rajkumari Dahiya said Naushad was in a half-conscious state when they reached the police station, and the accused, Gumana, was sitting on a chair, having tea with the police — and filed a case against those who were part of the mob under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has also been constituted in connection with the incident.