A Muslim man was tortured to death by a mob in India, Tuesday (26/9/2023). This is because the man allegedly took bananas which are a religious offering at a Hindu temple.
Around 5 am on Tuesday, a mob tied Mohammad Ishaq to an iron pole with leather belts and beat him mercilessly on suspicion of stealing a ritual offering called Prasad. The incident occurred at a prayer event, Ganesha Chaturthi.
The event was held three lanes from Ishaq’s house in the Sunder Nagri area in the Indian capital, New Delhi.
“My son was killed because he ate prasad. Those who killed my son felt offended if a Muslim touched their prasad,” said Ishaq’s father, Abdul Wajid, to Al Jazeera , quoted Friday (29/9/2023).
Wajid, who sells vegetables from a pushcart, said that his Hindu customers often offer him prasad and he accepts it without thinking twice. “Prasad is a gift from bhagwan or Allah. I do not reject it.”
Ishaq’s younger sister, Uzma, told Al Jazeera that her brother was hanged “for taking bananas” and the mob left him tied to a pole after the brutal attack.
“His nails were broken, some were pulled out, and his fingers had wounds. He was brutally beaten because he was a Muslim,” he said. “He cannot speak and his condition is critical.”
With this situation, Wajid wants justice for the murder of his only son. Even so, he appreciated the police’s actions in taking action against the perpetrators.
“We are so far satisfied with the police’s actions but we want the people who killed my son to suffer the same fate,” he said.
Attacks and lynchings, especially against Muslims, have increased in India since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014. The government denies the allegations.
Dozens of Muslims were lynched or attacked by right-wing Hindu groups on suspicion of killing cows, the slaughter of which is banned in most Indian states because some Hindus consider cows sacred.
Source : CNBC