A court in Jharkhand’s Seraikela-Kharswan district on Wednesday sentenced 10 people to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment in the 2019 Tabrez Ansari lynching case.
Tabrez Ansari, who was accused of stealing a motorcycle, was beaten up by a Hindu mob and purportedly made to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Jai Hanuman’. Viral video footage from the night of 19 June 2019 showed Ansari tied to an electricity pole and being assaulted by the mob.
He later died. His family then alleged that police denied treatment despite his injuries.
The lynching incident just after the inauguration of Narendra Modi’s second term sparked protests across India.
Additional District Judge-I Amit Shekhar convicted the 10 and acquitted two other accused persons due to lack of evidence on June 27. The judge said there was not enough evidence to convict the accused of murder.
