A court in Jharkhand’s Seraikela-Kharswan district Wednesday sentenced 10 people to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment in the 2019 Tabrez Ansari lynching case. The convicts, accusing Ansari of theft, had tied the 22-year-old to an electricity pole, assaulted him, and forced him to chant “Jai Shri Ram” and “Jai Hanuman”. He died days later. Four years on, District Judge Amit Shekhar convicted the 10 people in the case. On Wednesday, he pronounced the quantum of punishment amid tight security through video conferencing and awarded 10 years of rigorous imprisonment to all the convicts under IPC Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder). The judge also slapped a fine of Rs 15,000 on each of them. Two accused people were acquitted and another died during the trial. The lynching had occurred in Dhatkidih village of Saraikela Kharsawan in the early hours of June 18. Four days later, on the morning of June 22, Ansari, who was in judicial custody on the charge of theft, complained of nausea, vomiting and chest pain, and fell unconscious. He was rushed to the sadar hospital and then to the Tata Main Hospital in Jamshedpur, where he was declared dead on arrival. Ansari worked as a labourer and welder in Pune and had come home to celebrate Eid. Additional Public Prosecutor Ashok Ray told The Indian Express: “The copy of the judgement has not been made available until now. The court pronounced all 10 guilty to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and Rs 15,000 fine.” A video of the incident showed Ansari pleading with the mob to stop the assault. Police reached the spot at around 6 am. At 9.30 am, they recorded Ansari’s statement in which he allegedly “admitted” that he had committed the theft with two other men. Thereafter, he was arrested, produced in court and remanded in judicial custody. But when Ansari died on June 22, a case was registered against the village residents under IPC Sections 302 (murder) and 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religions or religious beliefs), among others.
