By Upasika Singhal , Sohini Ghosh
“Ek tarah se jeet hui hai (In a way, it’s a victory),” says Kismatun, a little confused, a lot tired after four years of a legal fight over her son Faizan’s death.
In February 2020, as riots tore through Northeast Delhi, a group of Delhi Police personnel were seen on camera beating and abusing Faizan and four other men, prodding them with their sticks as they lay on the ground, writhing in pain. In the video that went viral, the policemen were also heard hurling communal slurs and asking the men to prove their patriotism by singing the national anthem. Two days after the assault, Faizan, then 23 and the eighth of Kismatun’s nine children, died in hospital.
Though an FIR was registered on February 28, it didn’t mention the video.
On July 23, the Delhi High Court, while hearing a petition by Kismatun seeking a court-monitored SIT probe, directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe Faizan’s death, underlining that the policemen’s actions amounted to a “hate crime” that was “motivated and driven by religious bigotry”.
Earlier this month, the Delhi Police ordered a departmental inquiry against a head constable and a constable who, they said, were “prima facie” at the incident spot.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.
