A minor Hindu youth Rohit Jadhav (17) was lynched to death by a mob of around 20 Muslims, including 4 women, in Jalna, Maharashtra on Sunday night.
As per a report in Marathi paper Lokmat, the attack was a fallout of some old dispute between the youth’s family and the attackers. The lynching occurred in Jalna city’s Lohar Mohalla area.
On the night of 6 June, the mob had attacked Rohit & his family and destroyed their house, after which the family fled and lodged a case in Sadar Bazaar police station. On Sunday, Rohit had come to inspect his damaged house, when the mob surrounded him at an isolated spot and brutally thrashed him.
Rohit was rushed in a severely injured state to the district hospital, but passed away during treatment. His mother Sangeeta Narayan Jadhav lodged a police complaint against 20 accused – Majid, Aziz, Mohsin, Bashir Khan Fatri Khan, Imran Khan Bashir Khan, Taufiq, Salim Sheikh Rahim, Khayyum, Sheikh Yunus Sheikh Mehboob, Mehboob Sheikh Yusuf, Sheikh Riyaz Sheikh Gilani, Sheikh Salim Sheikh Rahim, Sheikh Rasool Sheikh Yunus, Sheikh Rahim Sheikh Raees, Sheikh Alim Sheikh Raees, Sheikh Masum Sheikh Karim and 4 women. 8 of them have been arrested.
There is tension in the area after the lynching. Rohit’s cremation was carried out under police cover on Monday.
A डरा हुआ mob of Majid, Aziz, Mohsin & others killed 17 yr old Rohit Jadhav in Jalna, Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/cywnAc2oyC
— iMac_too (@iMac_too) June 11, 2019
There is a marked difference in how English language news media has covered the news. A PTI feed run by Business Standard, carries the following headline about the incident –
PTI quotes Inspector Sanjay Deshmukh of Sadar Bazar police station as saying, “The minor and his brothers had looted a family in Lohar Mohalla here on June 6 after which the latter, along with friends, ransacked the deceased’s house.”
The tone of the article seems to suggest that the murder of the minor was justified as he was a ‘history-sheeter’ and because there is an allegation of looting against him.
Would PTI and the rest of Lutyens’ media apply the same standards when a Muslim like Akhlak (accused of stealing & butchering a calf) or Pehlu Khan (accused of cattle smuggling) becomes victim of mob lynching? NO. In that case, the benefit of doubt rests with the victim and the entire state machinery, right upto the PM, is held accountable for the crime.
If only Rohit Jadhav were not a Hindu and his killers Muslim, the entire national media and establishment elites would be shouting to get him justice.
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