{"id":2910,"date":"2018-08-11T12:17:20","date_gmt":"2018-08-11T12:17:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/?p=2910"},"modified":"2023-09-20T08:16:03","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T08:16:03","slug":"justice-denied-a-road-accident-that-wasnt-a-lynching-that-was","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/justice-denied-a-road-accident-that-wasnt-a-lynching-that-was\/","title":{"rendered":"Justice Denied: A Road Accident That Wasn’t, a Lynching That Was"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Haryana police covered up the August 2013 murder of three young men by a mob of cow vigilantes. Five years on, the sole survivor is a wreck but the families of the murdered men still want justice.<\/i><\/p>\n
Neha Dixit<\/p>\n
Taufeeq had the habit of hanging out with friends every evening. Most of them, just like him, had aspirations for a better life and more money and so they would keep coming up with business plans and giving them a shot. One such plan changed life forever.<\/p>\n
On August 6, 2013, just two days before Eid, four friends \u2013 Sahroon, Fareed, Sher Singh and Taufeeq \u2013 decided to travel to Delhi to buy clothes that they could sell to Eid shoppers in the Punhana market. It seemed like a great idea.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The mob of about 50 people ran towards them with lathis, swords, guns and sickles. The driver, still in the front, managed to run away. The mob charged at them. The assault which lasted ten minutes felt like an eternity. \u201cWe begged them to stop. Asked them to check the truck. But they kept calling us \u2018cow thieves\u2019 and \u2018butchers\u2019 and beat us like there was no tomorrow,\u201d Taufeeq recalls in a detached tone.<\/p>\n
They split Sahroon\u2019s head, broke Sher Singh\u2019s ribs and legs, broke Fareed\u2019s jaw and fired at his head. He recalls, \u201cI could see Fareed\u2019s entire set of teeth in his hand. We were four bodies lying in a pile on top of each other. I was right at the bottom of the pile. Probably that\u2019s why I survived.\u201d He adds,\u201cThe policemen, 30 of them, stood there and watched. They did not save us, did not stop the mob.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n