By Kanwardeep Singh
BAREILLY: A 37-year-old man from Moradabad in UP was mercilessly beaten by cow vigilantes of a right-wing outfit for allegedly slaughtering a cow. The incident was reported from Moradabad’s Majhola around 3.30am on Monday and the victim, Shahedeen Qureshi, died at a hospital a few hours later.
A purported video of the horrific attack was circulated online – mostly by the vigilantes – on Tuesday. In the clip, a few men belonging to a right-wing group could be seen kicking, punching and hitting a man with blunt objects, with the victim lying on the ground with visible injuries on the body, gasping for breath. A carcass of a stray cow could be seen next to him, but it is unclear whether he had killed that animal.
SP (Moradabad city) Ran Vijay Singh said, “Locals came to know of a bovine being slaughtered, and caught one person while his accomplices fled. The mob thrashed the man after finding the carcass. The man died during treatment. We have received a complaint from his brother and have registered an FIR against unidentified persons under section of murder. The accused will be identified and arrested soon.”
Shahedeen’s brother Shahjad, who runs a meat shop, said, “My brother was a bodybuilder and used to work in a factory. He had nothing to do with meat trade and never had any FIR against him in the past. A year ago, he fell ill due to wrong supplements and spent almost six months in a hospital as his lungs became weak. He lost his job at that time…. My brother would never do such a thing. Others could’ve been involved and he paid the price for it.”
This story was originally published in timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Read the full story here.