52-yr-old Muslim Man allegedly tortured to death by Haryana police in custody

A 52-year-old employee in Panipat based Carpet factory, died on June 8 after he was allegedly tortured inside a Police station in Haryana. The incident is of Quila Police Station of Panipat where he was being questioned after his distant relative had supposedly eloped with a 22-year-old woman. Those accused in the heinous crime included officers of the police station and family members of the woman’s family.

Police had picked up the person for questioning in relation to a woman being eloped for marriage. It was alleged by the woman’s family that the person’s son-in-law’s brother had eloped with the woman with a promise of tying the nuptial knot. Both the missing man and the woman in question are untraceable since May 27.

Earlier, the missing man had been booked on charges of kidnapping and abduction as the woman’s family members alleged that he was compelling her into marriage.

Even though both are of marriageable age and under the Indian Constitution are free to decide their partner – the Police not only booked the man but also picked a distant relative and allegedly tortured him to death and that too in collaboration with the members of the girl’s family. However, outlandish it might seem – this is what the preliminary investigations suggest.

And what is most bizarre is that the reason of the crime was that man was a Muslim whereas the woman belongs to the Hindu religion.

On June 8, ASI Dharamvir took Ayub Khan into custody to enquire about Irshad Khan’s (Ayub’s son-in-law’s brother) whereabouts. Ayub’s family alleged that ASI Dharamvir, along with Sumit and Sunil, the woman’s relatives, tortured him after which he died in the evening of the same day.

Later, the police took him to the General Hospital where, doctors declared him dead. As the family received the information about Ayub’s death, they gathered at the hospital and protested against the police.

The family also alleged that earlier the ASI had demanded a bribe of Rs 40,000 for settling the issue.

Post preliminary investigations, Assistant Sub-Inspector Dharamvir has been taken into custody and charged with murder alongwith two more accused. To probe further into the matter, the SP has formed a special investigation team (SIT), led by ASP Pooja Vashisht.

Many locals in the area are seeing the incident in light of the upcoming elections in UP. Panipat is very close to the Uttar Pradesh border and comprises the same type of communities. After the Farmer’s Protest there was an increased bonhomie between the adherents of the two religions. The locals point out that right wing political parties have earlier too created rift (Muzaffarnagar in 2013) and thereby polarisation in run-up to elections. In Muzaffarnagar riots also they claim the riots started with a allegation of eve-teasing.

The local citizens and farmer leaders are upset with the growing spate of hate crimes against Muslims and they feel it might be a ploy to drive a wedge between the two communities. They are thinking aloud “Is it another attempt to polarise the electorate and nullify the recently achieved bonhomie?”