Summary A group of Muslims were violently attacked in a train after being accused of consuming beef
(Web Desk) - A group of youths in the Indian state of Haryana were violently stabbed and beaten on a train after being called beef eaters by Hindu extremists. Fifteen year old Junaid Khan was going to Dehli to get some clothes and perfume for Eid. Little did he know that the shopping trip would end up costing him his life.
As Junaid along with his brother and his friends boarded the train, he was violently stabbed to death by a large group of “10-12 men between 7-8 pm”. Both of his brothers Hashim and Shaqir who later on bordered the train also received stab wounds from the assailants, although thankfully both managed to survive the ordeal.
Later on 23 year old Shaqir, recovering from his injuries at AIIMS Trauma Centre in Delhi, spoke to the Indian Express about the incident claiming that the accused had started the whole thing by taunting Junaid and the others over their clothing, and also accusing them of “beef eating”.
Shaqir was stabbed five times by the mob (courtesy Indian Express)
“They flung our skull caps, pulled my brother’s beard, slapped us, and taunted us about eating cow meat. Beef is not even cooked in our village. Once we reached Ballabhgarh, they took out knives. They were older than us — probably in their 30s — so we couldn’t do anything,” Shaqir recalled tearfully. He said the men then started stabbing Junaid, Hashim and him.
Shaqir,s last memory of the incident is of Junaid being violently stabbed and then the mob moving on the other two brothers. He says that Junaid was a gentle kid who never fought with anyone. “He used to study Urdu at the madrasa in our village, and just a day earlier, he read the Quran at home. He was a healthy kid but he never fought with anyone. I told the mob that these are children… and that if we don’t say anything about their religion, they shouldn’t say anything about ours.”
A case has been registered against the stabbers at Government Railway Police station, Faridabad, under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 302 (murder), and 34 (common intention). According to the Indian Express one arrest has been made so far with the other suspects still at large.
Beef eating and cow slaughter are sensitive issues in India with laws varying state to state. However with the coming of the Modi government there has been an increase in “cow vigilantism” with mobs attacking people accused of slaughtering cows or consuming beef.
