A Muslim hawker named Akbar was hacked to death with an axe in Purulia, West Bengal, India. His son said some people had forced his father to chant “Jai Shri Ram” only because he had a beard, and that hatred had spread from this. He said he feared such acts could happen out of that hatred. Police, however, have denied that religious hatred played any role in the incident.
According to a report in The Wire, Akbar Mondal, 47, was killed on June 9. His 20-year-old son, Zulfikar, said: “My father had to be killed because of religious politics.”
The area is generally known as “Jangalmahal.” In the past, the region was the center of several important political movements.
Zulfikar had been forced to leave his studies because of poverty and, like his father, worked as a hawker in the Bandwan area of Purulia district. He said the incident had shaken his family and village.
Zulfikar said that on the morning of June 9, Akbar was selling steel utensils from his pushcart. He was suddenly dragged into a house in Supurdihi village, where a man unknown to Akbar attacked him. Zulfikar said the man first beat Akbar with a stick, and when Akbar tried to defend himself, he was struck with an axe. Zulfikar added that he had learned Akbar was also stabbed.
Zulfikar said: “Around noon that day, an officer from the Bandwan police station called me and said my father had been killed. He told me to come to Bandwan hospital immediately.”
At the time, Zulfikar was selling household goods in another village. He said: “I went to the hospital and saw my father’s body. His head had been crushed. The sight was horrific. Almost his entire body was soaked in blood. Doctors told me Akbar Mondal had died long before he was brought to the hospital.” Zulfikar has demanded a proper investigation into the incident and exemplary punishment for those responsible.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report