A court in Uttar Pradesh’s Hapur has convicted 10 men for lynching a Muslim goat trader and attacking fellow Muslim man based on false rumors of cow slaughter in 2018.
45-year-old Qasim Qureshi was brutally murdered, while 62-year-old Samiudeen was assaulted based on a false rumor of cow slaughter in Hapur in June 2018. The pictures showing the Muslim man being dragged through the ground in the presence of police officers became viral following the incident.
The session court has found all 10 accused guilty under Sec. 302/149, 307/149, 147, 148, and 153A IPC. They have been sentenced to life imprisonment and fined Rs. 58,000 each.
Notably, the victims did not seek the death penalty for the convicts, expressing no enmity towards them and seeking justice only.
The surviving victim Samiudeen filed a petition in the Supreme Court in 2018 seeking proper investigation.
In 2018, the Supreme Court directed the Inspector General of Police, Meerut Range, to supervise the enquiry following the guidelines issued in the Tehseen Poonawalla judgment relating to mob lynching and hate crimes, Live Law reported.
In 2018, the main accused person in the case, Rakesh Sisodia, had claimed on camera that he was welcomed back after his release from jail on bail. Sisodia also claimed that the police were on his side.
