Two young Muslim men were brutally assaulted by cow vigilantes, affiliated with the right-wing Bajrang Dal, while transporting around ten cows in Madhya Pradesh’s Mehgaon village. One succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment on June 17 in Bhopal, while the other is still in a critical condition.
The incident took place on June 5, soon after midnight.
The deceased has been identified as a 24-year-old Junaid, who was in the cattle trading business. On the day of the altercation, he was being assisted by his friend, 21-year-old Arman, whose family is in the dairy business. The duo were reportedly transporting cattle from Vidisha to Bhopal when they were stopped.
Videos of the mob lynching have gone viral on social media. One of them, unable to get up, is heard pleading, “Bhagwan ke liye humein chod do (For God’s sake, spare us).”
There is another video posted after the attack showing the alleged leader of the mob, Dhruv Chaturvedi, saying, “We received information that cows were tied near the Mehgaon temple. When we chased the vehicle, we were attacked with stones. We saved the cows by risking our lives.”
Both Junaid and Arman rushed to the ICU at the Hamidia Hospital in Bhopal, where Junaid was put on a ventilator before passing away.
Who gave them right to kill my son? Junaid’s father
Junaid’s father told reporters, “My son was innocent. He worked as a labourer. Even if he was carrying cows, why couldn’t this be investigated properly?” Further questioning the new trend of cow vigilante mob justice taking place across the country, he added, “Who gave the mob the right to kill him? What kind of country are we becoming?”
The families told reporters that the police failed to file the FIR under section 103 (2) (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita.
Attack carried out by Bajrang Dal
Witness accounts report that as many as 20-025 individuals were involved, and up to Rs 2 lakh were seized from the victims. Locals allege that the attack was carried out by Bajrang Dal leaders Chandan Pushwa and Sanju Dhruv Maharaj. They told reporters that the mob even took the victims to the Sanchi police station, where they assaulted them even more and left them gravely injured.
The FIR was filed against the mob in the same police station.
Three arrested so far
Raisen police only arrested the accused after more than two weeks. However, three of the 12 named in the FIR – Dhruv Chaturvedi, Rampal Rajput, and Gagan Dubey – have been arrested so far. All the accused have prior criminal records.
Search operations are underway.
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