2017 Nagaon lynching: Difference between revisions
Marked this version for translation |
Put the language bar above the infobox so the text starts beside the infobox |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
<languages/> | |||
{{Incident infobox | {{Incident infobox | ||
|title=<translate><!--T:1--> 2017 Nagaon lynching</translate> | |title=<translate><!--T:1--> 2017 Nagaon lynching</translate> | ||
| Line 15: | Line 16: | ||
|short_description=<translate><!--T:8--> Two young Muslim men from Naramari, Abu Hanifa and Riyazuddin Ali, were beaten to death by a crowd in Kasamari, Nagaon district, Assam, on suspicion of cattle theft in April 2017.</translate> | |short_description=<translate><!--T:8--> Two young Muslim men from Naramari, Abu Hanifa and Riyazuddin Ali, were beaten to death by a crowd in Kasamari, Nagaon district, Assam, on suspicion of cattle theft in April 2017.</translate> | ||
}} | }} | ||
<translate> | <translate> | ||
<!--T:9--> | <!--T:9--> | ||
Latest revision as of 01:05, 31 October 2026
| Date | 30 April 2017 |
|---|---|
| Location | Kasamari |
| District | Nagaon |
| State | Assam |
| Coordinates | 26.3504°N 92.6796°E View on OpenStreetMap |
| Victims |
|
| Killed | 2 |
| Injured | 0 |
| Alleged trigger | Cattle theft |
| Allegation | Villagers alleged that the two men were leading away cattle from a grazing field in Kasamari |
| Legal status | Murder case registered and two people arrested in May 2017; no chargesheet or trial outcome found in available sources |
The 2017 Nagaon lynching was the killing of two young men, Abu Hanifa and Riyazuddin Ali, who were chased and beaten by villagers at Kasamari in Nagaon district, Assam, on 30 April 2017 after being accused of trying to steal cattle.[1][2] Police registered a murder case and arrested two people, while the victims' families denied that the men were involved in cattle theft.[3][4]
Background
Abu Hanifa and Riyazuddin Ali were neighbours and childhood friends from Naramari, a largely Muslim village on the outskirts of Nagaon town. Ali drove a shared tempo taxi and Hanifa sold vegetables.[1] Residents of Kasamari, a predominantly Hindu village about 5 km away, told Scroll.in that cattle theft had become a serious problem, with more than ten animals reportedly stolen in the preceding two weeks.[1] The Nagaon superintendent of police said the district had seen several cattle theft incidents.[3]
Incident
On the morning of Sunday, 30 April 2017, a Kasamari resident said he saw two men leading his bull across paddy fields and chased them, shouting that they were thieves. Residents then came from across the fields and attacked the two men; witnesses estimated the crowd at several hundred people.[1] Police said the villagers chased the men for about 1.5 km into the Jajori police station area and beat them with sticks.[3][2]
Police reached the scene and took the two men to hospital, where they died of their injuries.[3][4] Scroll.in reported that Ali died at Kasamari and Hanifa died on the way to Nagaon Civil Hospital.[1] The ages of the victims were reported differently; according to Scroll.in, Hanifa's Aadhaar card indicated that he was still a minor.[1]
Investigation and legal proceedings
Police registered a murder case after the victims' parents filed a complaint.[2][3] Two people were taken into custody on 1 May, and their arrest was reported on 2 May. Superintendent of Police Debaraj Upadhyaya said the investigation would establish whether more people were involved and described the incident as one of mob fury that police would deal with strictly.[3][4] The owners of the cattle filed a separate theft complaint at the same police station.[1] No report of a chargesheet or trial outcome was found in the sources consulted.
Reactions
Relatives denied that the two men were involved in any crime and said they had been killed in cold blood; on 1 May people protested with the two bodies and demanded action.[4] Neighbours told Scroll.in that neither man had any criminal case against him.[1] Police rejected a link to vigilante groups: the superintendent told AFP that no vigilante group was involved, and the officer in charge of Nagaon Sadar police station called it "a simple case of theft" with no communal angle.[2][1]
A Nagaon-based activist told Scroll.in that the killing might not be a typical case of cow vigilantism as seen in north India, but that its brutality could reflect a growing sense of impunity.[1] The Quint described it as the first such death in Assam linked to the cases of cow vigilantism then being reported across the country.[3]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 Arunabh Saikia. "The story of a lynching: Why a mob killed two suspected cattle thieves in cold blood in Assam". Scroll.in. 3 May 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Muslim men lynched for 'trying to steal cows' in Assam". Al Jazeera. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 "Two Held After Suspected 'Cow Thieves' Lynched in Assam's Nagaon". The Quint. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 IANS. "Two arrested in lynching of 'cow thieves' in Assam". Eastern Mirror (IANS). 3 May 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2026.