"We kept asking the police to stop the burial but they didn’t listen. We could not even see our father’s face for the last time," said 32-year-old Mohammad Ashfaq, whose father was allegedly beaten to death in Uttar Pradesh’s Badhohi by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Nagar Palika Chairman Ashok Kumar Jaiswal and 21 others on the night of Tuesday, 6 September.
Fifty-five-year-old Mustaqeem Ahmad, a vegetable seller, was allegedly killed over the entry of their goats into a neighbour's chabutra.
The Quint reached out to the deceased’s son Ashfaq, who was at the time performing his father’s last rites at the burial ground. Ashfaq stays in Surat, Gujarat, and had come to Bhadohi after his father died.
He said that his father was asleep along with the rest of their family when the mob led by Jaiswal banged on their door.
Meanwhile, a First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against the BJP leader over the incident that took place at the Rasuliat Khan locality of Bhadohi’s Katra Bazar.
What Exactly Happened?
Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Bhadohi, Rajesh Bharti, said that an argument had earlier taken place between two parties when Mustqueem's goat strayed into his neighbour’s house.
Speaking about the incident, Ashfaq told The Quint, "We have two to three goats. They wandered off to Sandeep’s chabutra to eat grass – he lives right across the house. Around 6 pm, Sandeep came to our house and verbally argued with our mother. Our mother said that they are animals, it happens. My younger sister said that no one is home and that they should come later. Then they slapped my sister."
"My younger brother came after 15 minutes and asked them why they were at home when there are only women. The 2-4 people argued some more and then went away," he added.
Speaking about the incident that occurred later that night, Ashfaq said, "At around 10 pm, everyone had had dinner and slept. We sleep early as we needed to get vegetables from the mandi at 4 am. Suddenly our door was being banged on repeatedly."
Naming the people, including Ashok Jaiswal, his son, and his nephew, Ashfaq said that they did not say anything and barged into the house.
"They held my father’s collar, pulled him out, and started beating him. My father asked what had happened. He said, ‘Aap humare chacha lagte hain, we voted for (supported) you,’ but they did not listen," Ashfaq said.
"When my mother and sister tried to intervene, they were beaten too. They kept beating him (Mustaqeem), and beat him until he was dead," he added.
While Mustqueem died from internal injuries suffered during the assault, his sons Salman and Aftab and daughters Sheeba and Shabnam were also injured.
The Quint also spoke to Salman, 17, who said that when he tried to intervene, he was held back, while Jaiswal’s son and nephews continued punching his father’s chest.
"After he was beaten, we thought he had fainted, but he didn’t regain consciousness. We took him to the hospital but the doctors said that he was brought dead," Salman added.
The FIR against 22 people, including Jaiswal, was registered following a complaint by the victim's wife Momina Begum, under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 147 (punishment for rioting), 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace).
Ashfaq further said, "Instead of IPC Section 302 (punishment for murder) they have put 304."
'Forced Burial and Threats'
Ashfaq also alleged that after the post-mortem examination, the administration forced his father’s burial.
"What had to happen, happened, but why did they have to get him buried? They said mahaul bigad raha hai (tensions are rising) and so they got him buried," he added.
Describing the incident, Ashfaq said, "Men weighing 70 kg were keeping their knees on my father’s chest and jumping on top of him. If you get the CCTV footage, you will start fainting. They all have cameras in front of their houses. In fact, there are 3-4 cameras but no one is ready to provide the footage."
On being asked if this was a communal incident, Ashfaq said, "Don’t know if it was communal, all they cared about was how dare did we say anything to their man. How dare did our goats go their chabutra."
He added that Ashok Jaiswal told Momina Begum that if "she says anything he will use his licensed gun against her."
On being asked if there had ever been anything close to such an incident, Ashfaq said, "We have been told many times to sell this house, since ours is the only Muslim house in the locality. But this happened six months ago. We have had no other fight or dispute with anyone otherwise."
"We had a relation of 20 years with our neighbor and used to regularly visit each other’s house," he added.
ASP Bharti had earlier told reporters that seven people have been detained and additional force was deployed in the area to avoid any untoward incident.
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