Punjab: No murder charge included in FIRs for lynching of two men who allegedly attempted sacrilege

The Punjab Police are yet to file murder cases in the two instances of alleged sacrilege, despite the two men being killed in public view in the state last week. On the contrary, the police have charged the two deceased men on allegations of hurting religious sentiments, the two FIRs accessed by Scroll.in showed.

The police have also booked one of the slain men for attempt to murder.

On December 18, a man was killed in an altercation with devotees at the Golden Temple in Amritsar after he had tried to pick up a kirpan (ceremonial sword) kept in front of the Sikh holy text Guru Granth Sahib.

The next day, another man was beaten to death in Nizampur village of Kapurthala district after villagers saw him disrespecting the Sikh religious flag Nishan Sahib. However, the police have denied the allegations of sacrilege in this case. They have said that man had tried to break into a gurdwara, but nothing was stolen.

In the Golden Temple case, the Amritsar Police have booked the deceased man under Sections 307 (attempt to murder) and section 295A (hurting religious sentiments) of the Indian Penal Code.

In the other case, Kapurthala Police have booked the man who was killed under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code. The police have said that a murder case will be registered in the Kapurthala incident once the deceased man is identified.

The police have failed to ascertain the identity of the two men who were killed.

Reports on the Kapurthala incident said that the man was beaten and locked up in a room by a mob after he allegedly attempted sacrilege. He was stabbed to death in front of the police after Senior Superintendent of Police Harkamalpreet Singh Khakh and his team entered the room forcefully, The Indian Express reported.

Political leaders of the ruling Congress and the Opposition parties have condemned the alleged attempts of sacrilege. However, none of them have called out the killing of the two men.