The Alwar court’s decision on Wednesday to acquit the six accused charged with killing dairy farmer Pehlu Khan in April 2017 has left the family of the deceased shell-shocked.
“We have lost faith in law. From last two and a half years, we were waiting for justice. We thought that justice would be delivered and it will give peace to my father’s soul but instead our hopes are shattered,” said Irshad Khan, eldest son of Pehlu Khan.
He said that he was puzzled by the judgment. “We had all the necessary evidences to prove that the my father was beaten to death by a mob. The police had also the necessary evidences including the post-mortem report,” said the 27-year-old.
No one from the family was present in the Alwar court when the verdict was announced, their lawyer Kasim Khan. “We were sure that there would be conviction,” he said.
The lawyer said the family will move an appeal in the high court. “We will study the judgment when we get a certified copy of the order, most likely on August 16,” Khan said.
{{/usCountry}}The lawyer said the family will move an appeal in the high court. “We will study the judgment when we get a certified copy of the order, most likely on August 16,” Khan said.
{{/usCountry}}Irshad said appealing in a higher court was the only option left with the family.
Also read: Pehlu Khan lynching: A look at the case so far
Fifty-five-year-old Pehlu Khan was attacked by alleged cow vigilantes in Alwar on the Jaipur-Delhi national highway, when he and five others were transporting cattle from a weekly market in Jaipur to their village in Nuh, Haryana on April 1, 2017. Khan died in a hospital two days later.
On May 24 this year, the police also filed the charge sheet in another case in which Pehlu Khan and his two sons -- Irshad, then 25, and Arif, then 22 -- were charged with cattle smuggling under thethe Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, 1995, on April 1, 2017.
“On one hand, people who killed my father will roam free and on the other, my family will suffer more trauma because of trial in case against us,” Irshad said.
“I don’t have words to explain what we are going through,” he added.