A 22-year-old man was allegedly lynched by three of his friends in Palwal on December 14, after a video of the incident showed the accused assaulting him, allegedly for being a Muslim. The police have arrested three men Akash alias Diljale, Vishal and Kalua and said that they have confessed to killing Rahul Khan in a state of intoxication.
A video clip purportedly shows the accused repeatedly hitting the victim’s face with sticks and saying that he is a Muslim while they are a Hindu. The 31-second clip shows the victim falling after repeated blows, with blood on her face and clothes, leading one of the accused to say, “He died.”
“So far, the victim’s family has not mentioned anything of such (communal) nature in the complaint and it has not come under investigation. We have found a CD of the video clip in which the accused is seen thrashing the victim and he can be heard saying ‘he will die’. We will send it for forensic analysis,” said DSP (city) Palwal Yashpal Khatana on allegations of the incident being a hate crime.
The DSP said the victim and his friends had gone to a wedding in Hoshangabad: “They returned to Rasulpur village, where they had an argument. The victim hid Kalua’s mobile phone while drinking alcohol. Kalua searched the phone… and found that the victim was in possession of the phone. There was a dispute about this matter and in anger the accused started beating her. They then took the victim to a canal where they again hit her several times with rods and batons, and where the video clip was filmed by Akash. ,
He said to save himself, the accused called up Rahul’s family and claimed that he was injured in a road accident.
Initially, the family had lodged an FIR at Chandhut police station stating that Rahul was killed after an unidentified vehicle hit his motorcycle on Nangal Road. His father Chiddi Khan told Indian Express: “At 10 in the morning his friend came to our house in Kalua village Sarai Khatela and took him to attend a wedding. He went on his motorcycle. At 6 pm, we got a call from his friends that my son was seriously injured in an accident in Rasulpur village.
The victim’s brother-in-law Akram Khan said that Rahul was barely conscious when he reached Kalua’s house, where he was taken. “He had been crushed on the head and had injuries on his arms, legs… We believed the story told by his friends… He was taken to the hospital, where he died. He took his sister during treatment. Told that he was assaulted, but we did not suspect anything at that time.
Akram said that on the morning of December 15, he found the viral video and filed a murder complaint.
“Some pictures and videos were also put Facebook and Instagram. He was beaten up with an ax like object and sticks… They kidnapped him and gave him drugs… We came to know that his friends were asking him for a treat and he refused… There was enmity attached to it… In the video, they can He can be seen saying that ‘You are a Muslim’… the police should investigate whether there is a communal angle and because of this he was targeted or not. We want justice,” he alleged.
According to the postmortem report, the victim has suffered 18 injuries. “Based on the report and the video clip, we have added murder sections in the FIR after recording another statement of the complainant,” the DSP said.
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