Maharashtra: 21-year-old Muslim man beaten to death allegedly by members of Hindutva group

A 21-year-old Muslim man was on Monday beaten to death allegedly by members of a Hindutva group in the town of Jamner in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district.

The perpetrators allegedly assaulted Suleman Rahim Khan Pathan after he was seen with a Hindu woman from the same village at a cafe, a relative named Abdullah Pathan told Scroll.

The Jamner Police filed a case of murder, abduction, rioting, criminal intimidation and breach of peace at 10.45 pm on Monday, five hours after the killing took place. The first information report named five men – Abhishek Rajput, Ranjeet Matade, Aaditya Devre, Krishna Teli and Sojwal Teli – and also lists 12 unidentified men as persons accused in the matter.

Suleman’s family said that some of the accused men work as gau rakshaks, or cow vigilantes.

Muralidhar Kasar, the investigating officer, told Scroll that eight persons accused in the matter have been arrested so far.

“The main accused were caught yesterday [Wednesday],” Kasar said. “They are Aaditya Devade, Krishna Teli, Sojwal Teli and Rishikesh Teli. We will produce them in court today.”

Suleman hailed from the Betawad village in the Jalgaon district. He had recently completed his education and was preparing to apply for police recruitment.

On August 11, Suleman left for Jamner to fill a police recruitment form, Abdullah told Scroll. “We don’t know about the girl he went to meet,” he said. “He never told us about her.”

Suleman and the woman met at the Brand Cafe in Jamner. The cafe’s owner identified Suleman as a Muslim and the woman as a Hindu, and called several young boys from the neighbourhood, Abdullah said.

“They took him to Sonbardi temple near Jamner and brutally assaulted him,” Abdullah said.

From the temple, Suleman was driven to a nearby village and assaulted again. He was then driven to the bus stand in Betawad where the mob publicly thrashed him once again.

His father Rahim Khan Pathan told Scroll that he, his wife Tabassum, his father and daughter – who had delivered a baby a month ago – all rushed to save Suleman. “We suffered injuries on our hands and legs,” he said. “They used iron rods, sticks and hands to beat us too.”

Rahim said that his son was bleeding from his ear, and had suffered multiple blows on his head. Abdullah said that Suleman’s genitals had also been brutalised with a knife. “There was no part of his body that they spared,” he remarked.

The attackers warned the villagers not to help the family, Abdullah told Scroll. “They were threatened that they would be beaten up too,” he said. “After they left, nobody offered us a car to drive Suleman to a hospital.”

The family first took the 21-year-old to a private hospital on a bike. The hospital, however, refused to admit him as it did not have the specialisation needed to treat him. The family then took him to a civil hospital, where he was declared dead at 4.30 pm.

Javed Mullaji, a former corporator in Jalgaon, said that this was an attack on the Muslim community. “They took him to multiple locations and assaulted him to send a clear message to all of us,” he said.