Move to withdraw 131 Muzaffarnagar riot cases: My father-in-law is dead; someone must have killed him, says victim’s kin
As part of its ongoing investigation from local police stations, The Indian Express Friday had tracked down family members in six of the 13 murder cases on the list.
Afsana’s relatives at their Pallada village residence on Friday. (Express Phoro by Gajendra Yadav)
Across Muzaffarnagar, from Lank to Mohammadpur-Raisingh and Kharad to Pallada, families of victims in 13 Muzaffarnagar riot murder cases that the UP government is moving to withdraw say justice is all they have left and wondered how cases could be withdrawn.
“We are very angry that the government is thinking of withdrawing the case. We only want to ask the government how we are at fault. My father-in-law is dead. Somebody must have murdered him,” says Mehmuna, whose father-in-law of Mommhamad Sagir, was killed in Kharad. This is among the 131 cases on the withdrawal list.
Read | Yogi Adityanath government initiates process on withdrawal of 131 riots cases
As part of its ongoing investigation from local police stations, The Indian Express Friday had tracked down family members in six of the 13 murder cases on the list.
Four more cases.
FIR: No. 420, September 7, 2013
Police station: Shahpur, Muzaffarnagar
Murder: A woman attacked by a mob
Location: Pallada village
Victim: Afsana (35)
Accused: None identified by name
Case Status: Final report filed on November 15, 2014
The family has stayed in Pallada. Afsana’s husband Rahees earns Rs 19,000 a month from the government job he was given as compensation. “We lost hope very long ago when a lawyer told us that the case is closed and no one will come to us again. After that day, today is the first time someone has come to our house,” says Rahees. He has still saved all the documents related to his wife’s murder. “My son witnessed the incident and his complaint had names of at least a dozen residents of nearby villages. But we are weak and poor, how much can we fight?” asks Waheed, Afsana’s father-in-law.
FIR: No. 143, September 8, 2013
Police station: Phugana, Muzaffarnagar
Murder: 3 hacked to death
Location: Lank village
Victims: Kasim(65), Abul Hasan(70), Iqbal(55)
Accused: Unknown
Case Status: Closure report filed on September 11, 2014
Also read | Anger, anguish at murder victims’ homes after news of withdrawal of riot cases
Khurshid lost his father Kasim. (Express Phoro by Gajendra Yadav)
Kasim’s son, Khurshid is unaware of the UP government’s move. “My father died during the riots. Someone killed him. But anyway nothing was happening in our case for the last 3 years,” he says. He stays in government quarters with his wife, two children and ailing mother. The government is not doing anything, now only you can do something,” he says. The families of Abul Hasan and Iqbal have moved out.
FIR: No. 137, September 8, 2013.
Police station: Bhorakala, Muzaffarnagar.
Murder: 1 hacked to death
Location: Mohammadpur-Raisingh Village
Victim: Rahisuddin(62)
Accused: 22 accused. All Hindus.
Case status: On trial
Haneef says that the case should not be withdrawn. (Express Phoro by Gajendra Yadav)
Rahisuddin’s son, Haneef (48) has moved to Hussainpur village, three kilometres away, where he built a house with the Rs 15 lakh government compensation. Expressing shock at the government’s move he says, “The case should not be withdrawn, whatever it takes.” A few months after the riots, he sold his house in the village to a Hindu family.”Our own people killed my father, what was the point of staying there. People mock us, they say we ran away…at least those accused in such cases should be punished,” he says.
FIR: No. 137, September 8, 2013
Police station: Phugana, Muzaffarnagar
Murder: 1 hacked to death
Location: Kharad Village
Victim: Mohammad Sagir(80)
Accused: 12 named, all Hindus
Case status: On trial
Body of Mehmuna’s father-in-law was found hacked. (Express Phoro by Gajendra Yadav)
As the rest of his family prepared to flee the village, Sagir had refused and said he was safe. “My father-in-law was very sure that nothing would happen to him and he stayed back. His body was found hacked the next day,” says his daughter-in-law Mehmuna (48).
Angry with the government’s move, she says somebody did kill him in 2013. The family has not moved to Budhana, where her husband Meherbaan works as a labourer in the PWD department. “An innocent was killed and the guilty are not being punished. What kind of justice is this,” Meherbaan says.
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