Bulandshahr on the edge: Police trace couple whose elopement led to lynching

The police on Thursday nabbed the couple who had eloped from Bulandshahr, an incident that led to the killing of a Muslim man.

Fifty-five-year-old Ghulam Mohammad from Sohi village was lynched by suspected Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV) members after a Muslim boy from the village eloped with a Hindu girl.

The girl will be produced before a magistrate to record her statement. SP (Rural) Jagdish Sharma says that further investigation of the case would depend on the statement of the girl as she is not a minor.

But in Sohi village, two days after the incident fear stalks the Muslim families.

While mourning the death of Mohammad, his four sons, brothers and relatives were deeply worried for their safety. The male members of Mohammad’s family have not gone out for work since the incident fearing a backlash.

A police picket has been stationed in the village but the family is unconvinced. “How long will the police protect us?” ask community members who are contemplating moving out of the village. There are only four Muslim families in the Thakur-dominated village.

Mohammad’s family has blamed 55-year-old’s death on HYV members, naming one villager, Gavendra. They narrate in unison that attackers arrived on 8 to 10 motorcycles mounted with yellow flags and faces wrapped in saffron cloth. The men warned the Muslim families of dire consequences if the Hindu girl was not traced.

Yasin says though they reported the matter to Pahasu police and the village elders no action was taken against them.

The police have arrested the Vahini’s Pahasu town president, teenager Honey Raghav, and workers Pulkit and Lalit. Vahini’s district president Sunil Raghav, however, claims those arrested are innocent. He said that Vahini will launch a movement if its members are not released. “The arrested men are innocent. They were in Pahasu town at the time of murder”.

Police identified Raghav and his fellow workers from their Facebook accounts.