By Web Desk
In the FIR filed against the brother of a Muslim man who was lynched by a Hindu mob after being accused of dacoity and assaulting a Hindu woman in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, in June 2023, the Allahabad High Court granted protection from any coercive action to the deceased man’s brother, who was also implicated in the case.
The Allahabad High Court has intervened to shield Zaki from the FIR, which was lodged 11 days after the mob lynching by Laxmi Rani Mittal, a Hindu woman in whose house the alleged theft was attempted and whose husband was also involved in the killing of Aurangzeb, The Wire reported.
On June 18, 35-year-old Aurangzeb was allegedly beaten to death by a group of local Hindu men in Aligarh. The mob accused him of attempting to steal from a Hindu trader’s house. Days after his death, a First Information Report (FIR) was lodged on June 29, naming Aurangzeb, Zaki, and five others in connection with a dacoity and assault that allegedly took place in the house where Aurangzeb was lynched.
Laxmi Rani Mittal claimed that the accused had committed a robbery in her house on the same night Aurangzeb was killed.
Mittal’s FIR included severe charges under the Indian Penal Code, including Sections 354, for assault or use of criminal force against a woman, and 395, for dacoity. However, the fact that the FIR was filed 11 days after Aurangzeb’s death and named him as an accused triggered widespread condemnation.
This story was originally published in madhyamamonline.com. Read the full story here.
