J’khand court holds eight guilty

LATEHAR (JHARKHAND) : A court in Jharkhand’s Latehar district on Wednesday held eight men guilty of thrashing two Muslim cattle herders to death in March 2016.

Mazlum Ansari, 32, and Imteyaz Khan, 13, were hanged from a tree after they were beaten up. Their lynching triggering nationwide protests. A spate of lynchings across the country, including in Jharkhand, followed and prompted the Supreme Court in July to urge the government to enact separate laws to prevent such mob violence.

First class judicial magistrate Rishikesh Kumar sent the eight, Mithilesh Prasad Sahu, Pramod Kumar Sahu, Manoj Kumar Sahu, Awadhesh Sahu, Manoj Sahu, Arun Sao, Vishal Tiwary, and Shahdev Soni, in judicial custody until the quantum of punishment is pronounced later this week.

The families of Ansari and Khan said the two were taking their cattle for sale to a nearby village fair when cow vigilantes lynched them

Five of the accused were arrested within 24 hours. Three absconding accused later surrendered to a local court. They were later released on bail.

The Latehar lynching was among a series of hate crimes in Jharkhand. In May 2017, a mob lynched four Muslim cattle traders at a village in Saraikela Kharswan district. A month later, a Muslim dairy owner, Usman Ansari, was attacked and his house was set ablaze after a headless cow carcass was found near his house.

In June 2017, a mob lynched a Muslim trader accused of transporting beef in Ramgarh district. A local court awarded life imprisonment to 11 accused involved in the case this year. Ten of them were later granted bail. A mob set ablaze three houses belonging to a Muslim man, who allegedly slaughtered cows on Eid in Giridh district in September 2017. In June 2018, a mob lynched two Muslim cattle traders in Godda.