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Fifty five-year-old Akhlaq and his son, Danish, were dragged out of their house on the night of 28 September 2015 in Bisada, Dadri. A mob lynched them to death following an announcement at a temple that his family had consumed beef.
While Danish survived, Akhlaq did not.
The residents of Bisada reportedly acted on a rumour that a calf had gone missing on 16 September, the carcass of which was allegedly found outside Akhlaq’s house. The preliminary forensic report of the meat recovered from Akhlaq’s residence said that it was mutton. The final report from the Central Forensic and Scientific Lab, however, confirmed it was cow meat.
An FIR was immediately registered after the incident – under Sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting , armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 458 (house-trespass), and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code.
The police arrested 20 persons in connection with the case, of which two were minors.
Currently, all the 20 accused are out on bail.
Acting on the court’s order, a parallel FIR was lodged against Akhlaq and six members of his family for cow slaughter. The police is still investigating the matter.
Since the horrible incident, Akhlaq’s family did not return to Bisada. Akhlaq’s other sons, Mohammad Sartaj, is in the Indian Air Force. The family is living the IAF’s accommodation in Subroto Park in Delhi.
Not just his wife and children, Akhlaq’s brother, Jaan Mohammad, too moved out of their ancestral village after the incident.
Akhlaq’s youngest son Danish, who got brutally injured in the incident, is now preparing for Staff Selection Commission exams.
Though after Akhlaq's lynching there haven’t been other instances of violences in Dadri, the tension is still tangible. Following the incident, several Muslim families have migrated out of the village.
Meanwhile, the Akhlaq’s family still awaits justice.
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