“He (Anil Kaushik) said he thought my son was a Muslim. Now he regrets killing a Brahmin,” says Siyanand Mishra, whose 19-year-old son, Aryan Mishra, was killed by men associated with the Hindutva group Bajrang Dal, who suspected the teenager of being a “cow smuggler” and a Muslim.
Siyanand Mishra who visited the local jail in Faridabad, told The Print that his son’s killer, Anil Kaushik, touched his feet and asked for forgiveness.
Kaushik, who is known locally as the “Monu Manesar of Faridabad,” is notorious for his anti-Muslim actions. He is a member of the Bajrang Dal, a Hindutva group. Kaushik and four other Hindutva men were arrested for the murder of 19-year-old Aryan Mishra.
“I asked Kaushik, ‘Why would you kill a Muslim? Only because of a cow?’ You could have shot at the car wheel or called the police. Why take the law in your own hands?’ Kaushik didn’t have any response,” The Print quotes Mishra as saying.
“My son is not a cow smuggler. He was a devout Hindu,” he said.
Aryan was shot in the head and right shoulder near the Gadpuri toll plaza on NH-19 in Haryana’s Palwal district on 23 August, after being chased by Hindutva men led by Kaushik for about 50 km.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.