Neemuch Lynching: Bhanwarlal Jain Died of Assault, Confirms Post-Mortem Report

Bhanwarlal Jain, a mentally ill man was thrashed to death over suspicions of being Muslim in MP. PM report confirms

A mentally ill 65-year-old Bhanwarlal Jain was assaulted by BJP worker over suspicions of being Muslim in Madhya Pradesh's Neemuch district. Post Mortem report confirms death due to getting beaten up.

Photo: Vibhushita Singh/The Quint

The post-mortem report of Bhanwarlal Jain, who was allegedly beaten up by a Bharatiya Janata Party worker – Dinesh Kushwah – in Madhya Pradesh's Neemuch over suspicions of being a Muslim, has confirmed death due to the injuries incurred during the assault.

The incident happened in the limits of Manasa police station in the district on 19 May 2022.

The incident had come to light when a video doing rounds on social media was recognised and reported by the family members of Jain who were earlier handed over his dead body by the Neemuch police but had no clue of him being beaten up.

Speaking to the media, Sundar Singh Kanesh, additional superintendent of police of Neemuch district, said,

"After the video went viral on social media a murder case was filed prima facie. Although the video showed the elderly man being beaten up, the cause of death was uncertain. We were investigating and after the post-mortem report came out it was clear that he died due to the injuries incurred by getting assaulted."

"My brother was assaulted and killed because someone suspected him of being a Muslim. There are 25 crore Muslims in India, how many will you kill? This is just wrong and should not happen to anybody," Rajesh Jain, the brother of Bhanwarlal, had said.

What Had Happened to Bhanwarlal in Neemuch?

Bhanwarlal Jain, a resident of Sirsi village of Ratlam district, had gone to Chittodgarh of Rajasthan for the worship of Bhairo Baba when he got lost and traveled to a village Sarsi in Neemuch which is pronounced similar to his native village.

He was later allegedly caught and assaulted by Kushwah, a local BJP leader, over suspicions of him being a Muslim.

His dead body was found not far from the place of the incident, and was handed over to the family a day later. However, the family did not know about the assault at the time.

It was only after they had carried out the final rites of Bhanwarlal when Rajesh received a video on WhatsApp which showed the accused thrashing his brother and asking him if he was a Mohammed (Muslim).

The police registered a murder case against Kushwah and he was arrested on 21 May 2022.

'Why No Bulldozer Action Against Accused?'

BJP's Neemuch district president Pawan Patidar, Speaking to The Quint, had earlier confirmed that the accused Dinesh Kushwah was a BJP worker and that his wife was a local party leader.

"Dinesh wasn't any office bearer, he was a local worker of the party. We do not have much information about this," Patidar had said.

Demanding justice and strict action against the accused, Rajesh Jain said:

We got to know that Dinesh Kushwah's nuisance has been troubling the localites for a while and now he killed our brother. Why is there no bulldozer action against him? His house should be demolished and he should be given strictest punishment for killing my brother.