(Ahmad Ibrahim is a lawyer based out of New Delhi. The following is an as-told-to account, recorded and written by The Quint’s Rohini Roy.)
Putting an end to a trial that went on for five years, an Alwar court recently convicted four men and acquitted one in the 2018 Rakbar Khan lynching case.
Self-proclaimed ‘Gau Rakshaks’ had in July 2018 allegedly thrashed 35-year-old Rakbar in Rajasthan’s Alwar on the suspicion that he was smuggling cattle along with his friend Aslam Khan.
While Aslam managed to escape, Rakbar sustained grievous injuries and was dead before he reached the hospital.
In its verdict delivered on 25 May, the court sentenced the four men to prison for seven years on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder (IPC Section 304) and wrongful restraint (IPC Section 341).
Additional District and Sessions Judge Sunil Kumar Goyal, however, cleared the accused of murder charges.
This has stirred up a significant debate over the appropriateness of the punishment handed down to the accused.
Nasir Ali Naqvi, one of the public prosecutors in the case, told the media: “They should have been convicted under IPC 302 (murder) too.”
Meanwhile, Rakbar’s wife Asmina added:
“The main accused has been acquitted while the others have been given only seven years – this should be increased. This is not justice. My husband was murdered by them.”
In light of this, it becomes essential to critically examine not just the verdict but the entire trial that led up to it.
What Happened?
The only public witness to the case was Rakbar’s friend Aslam. However, he changed his statement four times during the investigation, according to the judgment. His version of the sequence of events then, could no longer be relied upon.
According to the prosecution, the police received a call from Naval Kishore, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader, who has now been acquitted.
Kishore, the prosecution claimed, told the police that two individuals involved in an alleged illegal sale of cattle had been beaten up. He is then said to have come to the police station and guided the police to the exact spot where Rakbar was lying.
On reaching the spot, the police found the four convicts: Dharmendra Yadav, Paramjeet Singh, Vijay Kumar, and Naresh Kumar. Rakbar was also found, lying there covered in mud.
When the police approached Rakbar, the prosecution claims, he told them that he was carrying out an ‘illegal’ cattle trade along with his friend, as a result of which he was allegedly stopped by these people and thrashed.
The prosecution has said that he pointed to each of the four men, took their names and then the police took him to the hospital, where he was declared brought dead…
This story was originally published in thequint.com. Read the full story here