‘Cricketers I couldn’t even name ruined my life’: Acquitted in case of cheering for Pakistan, Madhya Pradesh villagers rebuild their life

The men had been arrested under IPC sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 153A (promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion). “This incident has created an atmosphere of unrest in the village and insulted the country of India. The accused have displayed their hatred towards the country of India,” the prosecution had submitted to the court.

However, Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Devesh Mishra, in his judgement dated October 9, 2023 acquitting the men, noted that the prosecution witness “did not support the prosecution story” and “denied giving any statements to the police”.

The police had based the case on the testimony by a prosecution witness, Subhash Kohli. However, in a twist, Kohli told the court he was watching the match at his home and had visited the police station after he found out that his friend, Shahid Mansoori, had been arrested along with other locals.

There, “the station in-charge slapped his (Kohli’s) father twice and locked his friend Shahid in a room for 10 minutes, assaulted him, and called the 100 number from the witness’s (Kohli’s) mobile phone”, the court noted in its judgement.

“The witness further stated that the next day, the police intimidated him and made him sign a written document, but did not read the document to him, nor did they take his statement,” the judgement read.

The court noted that other witnesses did not support the prosecution case and have “stated that they did not see anyone bursting crackers or chanting anti-India slogans… These witnesses have also denied giving any statements to the police”.

Advocate Shoeb Ahmad, who represented the accused, told The Indian Express, “The main prosecution witness, Kohli, died of cancer six months ago. The accused had raised money for his treatment. The police investigation was directed on implicating persons from a particular community. One accused, Rubab Nawab, (40) committed suicide in 2019 due to this case.”

The accused persons belong to Mohad village on the Madhya Pradesh-Maharashtra border, 359 kilometres from Bhopal. Most of the villagers work as agricultural labourers and daily wage workers. Most of the men alleged they were assaulted by inspector Sanjay Pathak and other police personnel when they were locked up.

Pathak, who was at the centre of this investigation, told The Indian Express, “If the accused were assaulted then, was that reflected in medical records? Why was this not brought before the court? I think that people who raised slogans against India should be the focus and not that the case fell apart. The main witness turned hostile as he wanted to live in this village. Saying Bharat Murdabad is not right, that is my stand.”

For the acquitted men, the trial took away any sense of normalcy.

Imam Tadvi, a 32-year-old daily wager, was taking his minor daughter to school when he was picked up by the police. “They hit me with lathis and my daughter fell down and hurt her nose. I was carted away in a police van as she looked helplessly… later, I was assaulted in police custody,” he alleged.

The accused involved many agriculture labourers who would move to Gujarat and south Indian states like Andhra Pradesh for work. However, for the first three years of the trial, they had to mark their attendance at the local police station as part of the bail conditions. So, they spent most of their time working at corn fields in Burhanpur, toiling 10-12 hours a day for Rs 300.

“We don’t have money to eat properly; do you think we will buy sweets to celebrate Pakistan’s win? I didn’t even know the names of the cricketers and they ruined my life,” Tadvi said.

The 17 Muslim men included two minors, who were acquitted by the juvenile justice court in June 2022. They dropped out of school because of the case. One of the minors, who is now 21, said, “I was in class 9 when the police picked me up. My life became very difficult after that. How could I have continued with my studies ? I wanted a job and a comfortable life… Now I work as a labourer with my father.”

Sheikh Mukadar Mansoori (40) said his father died as he was stressed over the case. “My father never saw me win. He died in September 2022. My children were not accepted at the local school and were accused of being Pakistan supporters. They were later given admission after I begged the school administration.”

Imran Shah (32) said he has been burdened by loans because of the trial. “I used to work in Andhra Pradesh as a farm hand. Now I have a Rs 1.5 lakh loan. I spent a lot of money travelling to court every month. The case was a huge financial burden,” he said.