Seven years after Akhlaq’s horrific murder, his family still awaits justice

the air is bad (Conditions are unfavourable)”, says Pravesh Kumar, an autorickshaw driver, as he takes this correspondent to Bisada village in Dadri city in western Uttar Pradesh, where, seven years ago, on the night of September 28, 2015, a mob attacked him. 52 years old was murdered. Old Mohammed Akhlaq accused of killing a calf.

, it is not good for you to go there (You shouldn’t go there),” says Mr. Kumar, whose family is from Bisada.

A few hours ago, Akhlaq’s brother Jan Mohammad had also issued a similar warning. “I would recommend that you only go during the day.”

Even before reaching Bisada, there is a complete rift in the relationship between the Muslims and the Hindus of the village.

“There is no social contact between Hindus and Muslims in Bisada, unless one is face to face on the road. Of the 30 Muslim families living in the village before Akhlaq’s murder, eight to ten have moved out,” says Mr. Mohammad.

The first to come out was the family of Akhlaq, who fled their home in fear on October 17, 2015.

This year, as has happened in the last six years, no family member came to the village to hold a prayer meeting on Akhlaq’s death anniversary. There is danger to their life and limb. As Mr. Mohamed explains, the attackers “roam freely”.

One of the 17 accused – Ravin Sisodia – died in judicial custody in June 2017, while the rest got bail by September 2017. The charge sheet in the case was filed on December 25, 2015, but this year the matter gained momentum.

“No one keeps in touch with us anymore,” says Mr. Mohamed, “the uncle of one of the attackers I knew. He doesn’t even call to find out about us. It’s been years. We never knew our Couldn’t return home.”

bleak House

Situated in a remote area of ​​the village, this house assumes an abandoned look. The courtyard has tall, weedy grass; Yellow paint is peeling off the walls; Due to lack of water for years, plaster has fallen from the walls.

On the first floor there is a narrow staircase leading to Akhlaq’s bedroom. Then it was whitewashed anew, probably for Eid-ul-Azha. Akhlaq had just slept in bed after celebrating Eid with family and friends when he was dragged out of the bedroom by a mob around 9 p.m. as allegations of cow slaughter took off in full swing.

The village had not reported any communal incident till then. Akhlaq’s family often distributed Idi vermicelli With neighbors in a perfect picture of communal harmony.

“Five generations of our family lived there. You can ask any villager if we have ever had a fight with a neighbor. Never,” says Mr. Mohammad, as Akhlaq’s daughter nods in agreement.

Everything changed that evening. The passion grew immensely and the reason took a leave. When his wife, daughter and son shouted for help, Akhlaq, young and old, pounced on him. “I was outside. There was an acquaintance in my room. He also couldn’t help it. The attackers hit sister in law (Akhlaq’s wife Ikraman) and Shaista (Akhlaq’s daughter) when they tried to save him,” says Mr. Mohammad.

They kicked and slapped Akhlaq, pulled his hair and hit him with bricks and sticks. The police arrived after half an hour. Till then it was no more.

Later, when his body was prepared for burial with a ceremonial bath, the family learned that, as a family friend, Mohammad Kumar recalls, “he was bruised and bleeding. His skull, neck and knees were broken; His left hand was hanging loose. It was difficult to wrap the body in a shroud.”

“Akhlaqi” Brother was dragged. The attackers seemed to have gone wild. He recorded a video of the attack and uploaded it on social media. Some locals may still have the video,” says Mr. Kumar.

The police arrested the priest of the temple from where the calf was allegedly announced as missing, and his assistant was arrested for questioning.

Based on the testimony of the family members, an FIR was registered, naming 10 of the attackers. It faces charges under sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with deadly weapons), 149 (unlawful assembly), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 458 (breaking of house) of the Indian Penal Code.

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This matter made headlines all over India. Every newspaper and TV news channel gave it a prominent place. Since then no lynching incident has been covered in such detail.

In many ways, Akhlaq’s lynchings set the tone for future attacks on unarmed Muslim men by self-proclaimed ‘cow protectors’ who claimed that their victims either killed a cow, as in the case of Akhlaq or taking cows for slaughter, as in the case of Pehlu Khan and Rakbar Khan in the Alwar district of Rajasthan.

Akhilesh Yadav, the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh had promised justice to the family. He even went to Lucknow to meet Akhlaq’s wife and daughter.

Mr. Yadav announced financial assistance to the family – ₹30 lakh to Akhlaq’s wife and ₹5 lakh to his brothers. Later, the Greater Noida Development Authority gave four flats to Akhlaq’s family members. The Center did not announce compensation.

Meanwhile, the Indian Air Force helped Akhlaq’s son Mohammad Sartaj, who was serving in Chennai by that time, by posting in Delhi.

“After the incident, the Indian Air Force gave two options to relocate Sartaj – Hindon Airbase or Air Force Station in Delhi. We chose Delhi. Sartaj’s mother and sister shifted with him in October 2015,” recalls Mr. Mohammad, who himself lives in another house in Dadri, a few kilometers from his ancestral home, which he once owned with his brothers Akhlaq, Jameel and other family members.

The trial started in Surajpur Sessions Court soon after the incident amid heightened public interest. However, it was not until 2020 that the hearings began.

“It is difficult to put a number on exact hearings. They are sometimes scheduled fortnightly and sometimes monthly. I would say there have been around 60 hearings so far,” says lawyer Mohd Yusuf Saifi, representing the victims. Huh.

The statements of all the family members of Akhlaq are yet to be recorded. There have been many delays and lots of bureaucratic hurdles.

For example, Ms Shaista, who now lives with her husband in Delhi’s Sangam Vihar, could not record her statement in court on two occasions earlier this year as no security was provided to her.

On the third occasion, when the UP Police provided her security, only then could she record her statement in the court. Police said that no security could be provided to him due to paucity of manpower.

He is one of three eyewitnesses in the case, the other two being Ms Ikraman and Akhlaq’s younger son, Danish. Ms. Shaista reiterated the names of those mentioned in the FIR in the last hearing. He recognized them all.

Noted legal activist Asad Hayat, who was part of the team representing the victims, says, “Ikraman’s statement will be recorded on October 12. Then we will record Danish’s statement. There has been inordinate delay on the part of defense lawyers since the filing of the chargesheet in 2015. Two years were wasted due to the pandemic. But this year the matter has picked up pace.

Says Mr. Saifi, “Whether it takes a year or two, we are confident of getting the conviction in this case. The hearing so far has been good for us. We are moving in the right direction.” Mr Danish is yet to be called to record his account.

He sustained serious injuries in the attack and was treated at Kailash Hospital in Noida where he underwent two brain surgeries. His medical bills were submitted by the Akhilesh government. He was also promised a government job, but it was not fulfilled after the change of government in the state. He is unemployed today.

“The family did not get any help from the state government or the police. We cannot even ask for a job for Danish in this government,” says Mr. Mohammad.

‘Atmosphere of fear’

Mr. Mohammad says a BJP MP came to his house soon after the incident. “The MP described Akhlaq’s killing as an ‘accident’, to which someone in the crowd objected, saying it was a ‘planned murder’. After this the MP talked to the family and left. Soon after, a BJP MLA visited our village but did not come to our house. Later the same MLA met me at a function and advised me to ‘solve Akhlaq’s murder case’.

Meanwhile, Mr. Mohammad says that there have been attempts by the accused to settle the matter out-of-court.

“Dhiraj’s son Gaurav and Om Kumar’s son Sachin approached me. They came with a person named Kalicharan and requested that we make some kind of settlement,” says Mr. Mohammad, “My name was added in the FIR to put pressure on me. But I didn’t bow down. It is a matter of justice for my late brother. So now no family member lives there. There is an atmosphere of fear there.”

The FIR he is referring to stems from the police investigation in the matter.

The police had come to Akhlaq’s house to collect meat at around one o’clock on the night of 28-29 September. They didn’t find any meat there. Yet he did not say so in the charge sheet. Instead, they showed the meat in a pot that was too big to be kept inside the fridge,” says Mr. Mohamed.

He adds, “Then they put the meat in plastic bags and sent it to Dadri Animal Hospital. On checking there, it turned out to be mutton. The flesh was red in colour, the fat was white. The vet also examined the animal’s legs. and concluded that it was mutton. Later, we heard about a forensic report from Mathura which said that it was beef. After this an FIR was registered against Mr. Mohammad and Akhlaq’s daughter-in-law Sonu.

Mr Saifi then claimed that the Mathura laboratory’s findings would have no bearing on the case. “It has also been the unanimous view of the prosecution and the investigating agencies that the ongoing criminal case is about murder. The latest forensic report will not have any bearing on that case.

Meanwhile, the autorickshaw driver says, “Justice must be done. Whoever is guilty should be punished. After the incident, communal harmony has ended in the village. People of different religions no longer visit each other’s houses.”