ISLAMABAD: India’s civil rights body, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has condemned the alleged mob lynching of a Muslim clothes hawker in Bihar, saying the incident reflects growing hatred toward Muslims and has demanded immediate arrests of all the accused.

A Muslim clothes hawker, Athar Hussain, in Nawada district of Bihar was allegedly lynched by a mob earlier this month, said an Indian media report on Wednesday.

The PUCL has demanded the immediate arrest of all the accused named in the case.

The civil rights body has also questioned the state police's negligence and called for a speedy trial and strict punishment under the law.

‘Growing hatred toward Muslims’

The incident reflects a “gruesome and distorted society and highlights the growing hatred toward Muslims in Bihar. The state must address the matter with sensitivity”, it said.

PUCL Bihar general secretary Sarfaraz pointed out that while the attackers alleged theft, the victim’s wife termed the allegations as false, the Indian media report said.

“The FIR filed by Athar Hussain’s relatives does not include specific sections like Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 103 (murder on grounds like race, caste, or sex, targeting mob violence and hate crimes). This points toward negligence on the part of the police. This is clearly a case of mob lynching and appears to be a case of hate-driven violence,” Sarfaraz said.

The PUCL also noted the influence of social media as a catalyst that transforms regular groups of people into violent mobs.

Hussain, a resident of Gagan Diwan locality in Bihar Sharif town of Nalanda district, was returning home on a bicycle after his day’s work of selling clothes on Dec. 5, when a group of people accosted him at Bhatta village in neighboring Nawada district, the report said.

Mob assault

According to a post on X on Wednesday by journalist CJ Werleman, “Mohammad Athar Hussain, a 50-year-old Muslim cloth vendor from Gagan Dih village in Nalanda district, India, was killed late Friday at Biharsharif Sadar Hospital following a mob assault on December 5 in Nawada district's Roh police station area.”

“Returning by bicycle from door-to-door sales in Dumri village, he was intercepted by six to seven men who verified his identity, robbed him, locked him in a room, compelled him to reveal his religious status, struck him with rods, sticks, bricks, and pliers, stomped on his chest, and doused him with petrol to ignite him.”

“His wife Shabnam Parveen lodged an FIR (police report) claiming religious hatred as the motive, prompting police to detain four suspects amid an active probe,” Werleman said in his post.

Mercilessly thrashed

According to the Indian media report, the mob thrashed the hawker mercilessly, branded him with hot iron tools and burning pieces of wood, cut his ears, broke his fingers, and subjected him to inhuman torture.

He was later admitted to Bhagwan Mahaveer Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital at Pawapuri in Nalanda, where he succumbed to his injuries on Dec. 12.

The police registered a police report on Dec. 6 based on the statement of his wife, Shabnam Parveen, naming 10 people and stating that they lynched her husband on the charge of theft.

The police have arrested eight of the accused so far, and are making efforts to nab the other two, who are absconding.

Hate crime

The human rights organization demanded an impartial investigation into the lynching of Hussain and called for swift justice, preventive measures by the government to stop mob lynching, inclusion of ‘hate-crime’ charges in the police report, regulation of hate-filled speeches, crackdown on social media and television channels that spread hatred and animosity, as well as fixing the responsibility of the officials who show negligence in cases of hate and divisive incidents, the report said.

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Bihar mob lynching shows growing hatred toward Muslims: India’s civil rights body