Muslim teenager stabbed to death in Haryana train after mob accused victim of carrying beef

A Muslim teenager was allegedly stabbed to death and several others were severely injured on a local train in Haryana on Thursday night, after a mob accused them of carrying beef in a bag, news reports have said. [caption id=“attachment_3740611” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational police. Reuters[/caption] The incident took place as a family of five was returning home after Eid shopping in Delhi when an altercation over seats turned communal and triggered the attack, Hindustan Times reported. The report said that the deceased was identified as Hafiz Junaid. The police arrested one person on Friday in connection with this incident, and the accused has confessed to his crime. According to the police, it was a group of 15-20 people boarded a Mathura-bound train. As the argument turned communal, they reportedly called the Muslim family “anti-nationals” and “beef eaters”, before throwing their skull caps on the floor, grabbing their beards, and taunting them with abuses. One of the accused in the incident told the media on Saturday that he regretted what transpired and that he was under the influence of alcohol on Thursday night.

Regret it,was drunk,but I dint make the beef taunts or attack the victim,my friends did: One of the accused in Palwal lynching case #Haryana pic.twitter.com/438DiY2Br3

— ANI (@ANI) June 24, 2017

Haryana director general of police BS Sandhu, however, denied that the incident happened over an argument regarding beef. “This was a clash between two groups which resulted in the death of one person. We have already arrested one of the accused. Police teams are investigating and others too will be arrested,” The Times of India quoted Sandhu as saying. However, another of the victims, 18-year-old Mohsin, said everything was happening in plain sight of Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel at Haryana’s Ballabgarh railway station, but they refused to help. “To save ourselves, we called the police and the emergency response number but there was no response,” he said. The SHO of GRP at Ballabgarh police station, Surat Pal, admitted that they couldn’t rescue the four youth due to the crowd at the station, The Times of India reported.

“One of them, Mohsin, called an ambulance when his brother was stabbed. Such things happen. Whenever there is a riot or fight, such things happen and people say some communal things, but we can’t do anything,” the report quoted Pal as saying.

Junaid was a student of Islamic studies in Surat, Gujarat, along with his brother Hashim, 20. The other injured are Mohsin, 16, Moin, 18, and Junaid’s elder brother Sakir, who also allegedly stabbed and is admitted to AIIMS, according to Hindustan Times. Junaid’s last rites were performed on Friday. The Times of India report also quoted Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu, who condemned the incident. “No one should take the law into their own hands. Even if there was a rumour, no one has the right to do this. The agencies should look into it and see who are behind this,” he said.