Disabled Muslim Man Tied To Pole, Beaten To Death In Delhi

A disabled man, aged 26, was beaten to death after being tied to a pole in northeast Delhi by some youngsters. They suspected that he was a thief, an official said on 27 September, while adding that the police have apprehended a minor, along with seven individuals, in connection with the incident.

The accused have been identified as Kamal (23), Manoj (19), Yunus (20), Kishan (19), Pappu (24), Lucky (19) and a juvenile (17). The deceased is reported to be a man named Israr, a resident of Sunder Nagri.

The official said that the accused said that they caught Israr Ahmed ‘lurking’ in the area at about 5 a.m. on 26 September and thought he was a thief. “They thought that he was a thief and started questioning him but he was unable to reply properly. They then tied him up to an electric pole and had thrashed him,” the official said.

Police sources say that a call was received at 10:46 pm on 26 September in which a fruit seller named Abdul Wajid told them that on reaching home at about 6.30 pm, he saw his son Israr lying outside the house.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northeast) Joy Tirkey said, “There were injury marks all over Israr’s body and he was in pain. Israr told Wajid that on Tuesday morning, some boys caught him near G-4 Block, Sunder Nagri. They thought that he is a thief and tied him to a pole.”

“They thrashed him with sticks. The assailants were identified as some boys who live near G-4 Block in Sunder Nagri area. Israr was brought home by his neighbour Aamir in a rickshaw,” DCP Tirkey said.

“At about 7.00 p.m., on Tuesday, Israr succumbed to his injuries at his house. Wajid called the PCR and informed the police about the incident. Following which, the body was shifted to the GTB Hospital. Postmortem was conducted at the Hospital on Wednesday, 27 September. The doctors found blunt force injuries all over his body including the back, arms and legs. The cause of death is shock and haemorrhage,” the DCP added.

The National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) condemned the incident, saying, “Incidents of abuse, physical attacks and killings of disabled people are being reported at regular intervals. However, this has acquired a much more dangerous dimension with disabled people being targeted for their religious identity.”

Citing media reports, the NPRD claimed that Israr was beaten to death for allegedly consuming ‘prasad’ from a temple in the area.

Meanwhile, the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) shared the video on its X (formerly known as Twitter) account and expressed shock over the incident. “This is India’s capital city where a 26-year-old disabled Muslim man named Mohammed Israr was tied to a pole and lynched by a Hindu mob for allegedly consuming prasad (sweets) at a temple,” said the tweet.

In a similar incident, on April 16, 2020, a driver and two Sadhus were brutally killed by an angry mob in Maharashtra’s Palghar district. The incident was triggered by a WhatsApp rumor claiming the presence of thieves in the village during the COVID-19 lockdown.

The Dadri lynching case took place in Bisra Village, Uttar Pradesh in 2015, involved the brutal killing of Mohammad Akhlaq. He was accused of slaughtering a cow for consumption, and the incident stemmed from regional and communal differences.