The mob tries to force Samiyuddin to say he was slaughtering a cow in the video
Highlights
- In a video posted, mob can be seen abusing, hitting 65-year-old man
- The attack took place on Monday, at Hapur's Pilakhuwa village in UP
- Police registered murder case, arrested 2 in connection with the assault
Days after a
45-year-old man was beaten to death and a 65-year-old seriously injured by a mob in western Uttar Pradesh's Hapur district, a second video of the incident once again points to the fact that the mob that assaulted the two Muslim men were acting on cow slaughter allegations.
In the one minute video posted on social media, the mob can be seen abusing and hitting 65-year-old Samiyuddin, at times pulling his beard. The mob tries to force him to say he was slaughtering a cow in their field. Blood can be seen on the clothes of Samiyuddin, who survived the assault and is in hospital. The attack took place on Monday, at Hapur's Pilakhuwa village, about 70 kilometres from Delhi.
NDTV cannot vouch for the authenticity of the video.
Another video filmed around the same time showed 45-year-old Qasim lying on the ground and begging for water - the mob refuses. Qasim later died in hospital. A photo of him being dragged in the presence of policemen has forced the top brass of the
UP Police to apologise. The police have admitted their conduct was insensitive and said their personnel were acting in the heat of the moment trying to get the dying man to hospital.
The two men were assaulted by a mob on Monday, about 70 kilometres from Delhi
The families of both victims held a press conference in Delhi on Friday,
alleging attempts by the police to cover up the incident by shifting the narrative to a road rage case over right of way for motorcycles.
"I went to the hospital and asked my brother about a stain on his thumb after I noticed it, he told me that he has no memory... the police wrote something and were asking us to sign, we were reluctant and that's when they would have taken by brother's thumb impression", alleged Mehruddin, the brother of Samiyuddin.
Uttar Pradesh's Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order), however, told NDTV on Friday that there is no question of a cover up. "Qasim's brother gave a complaint in writing, where he spoke about the incident involving bikes. An Investigation is still on, let the family file another complaint and we will include it in the FIR", said the officer.
The UP Police have registered a murder case and arrested two people in connection with the assault. "There are rumours of cow slaughter... we are investigating that angle too", said Sankalp Sharma, Hapur's senior-most police officer.