Accused is no criminal, he is being framed, claim villagers

BULANDSHAHR/SUTARI: A majority of Mewati habitants of Sutari village have come out in support of Mohammed Raees, the 32-year-old man who is one of the three arrested

BULANDSHAHR/SUTARI: A majority of Mewati habitants of Sutari village have come out in support of Mohammed Raees, the 32-year-old man who is one of the three arrested accused in the Dostpur robbery and gang rape case in Bulandshahr.

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“I last saw him a day after the Dostpur incident. Police arrived around 3am and called him. He was sleeping on the roof and went with police as they wanted him to answer one or two questions. He never returned,” said Sabrun, his wife and mother of four children.

“Even on the night of the incident, he was watching TV in the neighbourhood and slept at home,” she said.

The Mewati village, with an estimated population of 4,000, is six kilometres via a kuchha road from Dostpur and nearly 12km by the concrete road. Villagers here claim that Raees, a daily wager, was a “good character” since his childhood and never got implicated in any police case.

“We have no one to advocate his case. He was the only earning member but is now in jail and I am bedridden, unable to move,” said Shohrat, his father.

To support him, hundreds of villagers from Sutari, mostly daily wagers, went to the Kotwali Dehat police station on Tuesday night and demanded his immediate release. Raees is currently in judicial custody.

“My entire life has passed but I never saw him involved in any crime or even having fight with anyone. Had he been a bad character, villagers would not have had any sympathy with his family. We will do whatever we can for his release,” said Naseeran, an 80-year-old villager.

Locals said Shohrat has been bedridden for the past four years due to severe ailments while Raees’s sister is mentally challenged since childhood.

“The family is so poor that villagers donated to marry his niece three years back. People then donated chair, table, cloth and other daily use items... Most villagers like Raees here are daily wagers while some work in West Asia as drivers... We will do our best to help his family,” said Mohammed Sahjor Saifi, a block development committee member.

“In a robbery at a dhaba a month back, police had inquired about Raees but he came out clean... Even after we staged a protest on Sunday and Tuesday night, the police assured they will help his case,” said Bablu, his uncle.

Javeed Ahmad, Uttar Pradesh director general of police, on Sunday had said that the accused, including Raees, were arrested as they were identified by the victim’s family.