Dadri lynching: Court orders FIR against family of Mohammad Akhlaq

A court on Thursday ordered an FIR against the family of Mohammad Akhlaq over cow slaughter, reported CNN-News18. “Judicial Magistrate Vijay Kumar acting on application moved under 156(3) CrPC for registration of a case, has ordered investigation and lodging of an FIR of cow slaughter against Akhlaq’s family,” said DSR Tripathi, Senior Prosecution Officer. [caption id=“attachment_2893786” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Family members of Mohammad Akhlaq. Reuters[/caption] Residents of Bishada village in Dadri had met the Gautam Budh Nagar SSP on 5 June to press their demand for registration of an FIR against Mohammad Akhlaq’s family for alleged cow slaughter, following which he had ordered a probe into the charge. Jaan Mohammad, brother of Akhlaq, said the investigation should be fair. “Whatever decision the court has taken is to be respected. We respect the judiciary. We do not have any problem with investigation but the investigation should be fair,” he said. Police began probe into the complaint against the family of Mohammad Akhlaq, who was lynched by a mob in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh, on the suspicion of possessing and eating beef. Sanjay Rana, the father of one of the accused, said, “The court has rightly ordered lodging of the FIR. The UP government was taking one-sided action. Now the court order has provided justice to other side too.” The final report sent by the Central Forensic and Scientific Lab in Mathura confirmed that the flesh was that of a cow. Akhlaq’s family had decided to challenge the forensic report in court. Yusuf Saifi, Akhlaq family’s lawyer, said that the report is not related to the case. “The report will be challenged in Surajpur court soon.” However, as Vivek Awasthi points out in this _Firstpost_ piece , the preliminary report of the lab test of the pieces of meat recovered from Akhlaq’s house suggested that the flesh was that of a goat. This report was issued by the deputy chief medical veterinary officer of the Government Veterinary Hospital, of Dadri, Disrtict Gautam Budh Nagar. Fifty year old Akhlaq was killed by an infuriated mob, after an announcement was made from a loud speaker of a local temple that his family was consuming beef at home. About 200 people immediately gathered outside the house and Akhlaq was beaten to death. It is interesting to note that an FIR has been ordered against Akhlaq’s family just ahead of the 2017 Uttar Pradesh elections. With inputs from PTI.