Killing of Sabir Malik
| Date | 27 August 2024 |
|---|---|
| Location | Badhra |
| District | Charkhi Dadri |
| State | Haryana |
| Coordinates | 28.5109°N 75.9374°E View on OpenStreetMap |
| Victims | Sabir Malik |
| Killed | 1 |
| Injured | 0 |
| Alleged trigger | Beef consumption or storage |
| Allegation | Suspicion that migrant ragpickers had cooked and eaten beef |
| Legal status | Ten accused, including two juveniles, arrested by October 2024; police said a chargesheet would be filed soon. No later court status reported |
The killing of Sabir Malik, a 22-year-old ragpicker from West Bengal, took place on 27 August 2024, when he was beaten to death near Badhra in Charkhi Dadri district, Haryana, by a group of men who suspected migrant workers there of eating beef.[1][2] A forensic report later found that the meat recovered from the family's shanty was not beef.[3] Police arrested ten people, two of them minors.[3]
Background
Sabir Malik, from South 24 Parganas in West Bengal, lived in Haryana with his wife and two-year-old child and worked as a ragpicker.[1] The Tribune described him as a scrap dealer whose family lived in a shanty near the bus stand at Badhra.[2] Haryana's Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act, 2015, prohibits the sale and consumption of beef.[3]
Incident
On 27 August 2024 a group of local residents suspected that ragpickers living near Hansawas Khurd village were cooking beef, and settlements of migrant workers were searched. Police collected a sample of the food for forensic testing.[1][2] According to the police, the accused went to the family's shanty and then called Malik and a relative to the Badhra bus stand; the relative escaped, but Malik was beaten with sticks and died. A video of the assault was circulated on social media.[3]
Malik's family said he had been asked to come to the bus stand to collect scrap and was abducted from there.[1] Business Today reported that he had been lured to a shop on the pretext of buying empty plastic bottles, and that after bystanders intervened the attackers took him to another place and beat him again.[4] His body was found near Bhandwa village and handed to his family after a post-mortem examination.[1]
Investigation and legal proceedings
By 30 August police had arrested five men, and the Superintendent of Police said Malik had been beaten to death on suspicion of eating beef.[2] Two juveniles were also apprehended, and a case was registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita; Deputy Superintendent of Police Dheeraj Kumar said those held were being questioned.[4] By late October police had arrested all ten accused, who were from nearby villages; some of them reportedly said they worked with a cow vigilante group.[3]
In October 2024 police said the laboratory report on the meat sample recovered from the family's shanty showed it was not beef. Badhra Deputy Superintendent of Police Bharat Bhushan said the report was not conclusive about which animal the meat came from. Police said the investigation was complete and that a chargesheet would soon be filed in court.[3]
Reactions
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said it was "not right to say things like mob lynching" and that "villagers have so much respect for cows that if they are informed about such things, then who can stop them?" He also described such incidents as unfortunate and said they should not happen.[4] Former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda called for strict action by the state government.[3]
Aftermath
After the killing, Malik's family returned to West Bengal; in October 2024 The Tribune reported that they were expected to come back to Haryana. The newspaper placed the case alongside earlier cow-related killings in the region, including the Killing of Junaid and Nasir in 2023.[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Lynching: Haryana cow vigilantes kill West Bengal youth on suspicion of eating beef in Charkhi Dadri". The Week. 1 September 2024. Retrieved 31 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "5 arrested in murder of migrant worker in Charkhi Dadri". The Tribune. 30 August 2024. Retrieved 31 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 "Meat from lynched migrant's shanty in Haryana not beef: Report". The Tribune. 27 October 2024. Retrieved 31 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "'Villagers have respect for cows, who can stop them?': Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini denies 'mob lynching' claim after migrant worker's death". Business Today. 31 August 2024. Retrieved 31 October 2026.