By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter
In another incident of mob violence, a 44-year-old Muslim man was lynched in Pratapgarh district of Rajasthan on Friday morning after he tried to stop municipal officials from taking photos of women who were defecating in the open.
The incident happened near Bagwasa Kachi Basti area around 6:30 AM when few women had gone out for carrying out their daily natural calls.
At the same time, few officials from Pratapgarh municipal corporation were in the area to spread the awareness about Swacchta Abhiyan. They saw the women defecating in the open and tried to take photo of them from their mobile phones.
Zafar Khan, the man from the village saw this and objected at officers taking photos of women attending nature’s call. The argument caught heat and the five officials from municipal corporation started beating Zafar Khan.
He was taken to the hospital where doctors declared him dead. Locals have reported that Zafar could not bear the fierce beating by five men and died on the spot.
The matter is slowly catching heat because Rajasthan administration continues to face the heat for giving free hand to cow-vigilantes who killed dairy farmer Pahlu Khan couple of months back in Alwar district of Rajasthan.
A case against five officials of the Pratapgarh municipal corportation has been registered by the Noor Mohammad, the brother of the deceased. Pratagarh SHO Manglial Bishnoi commented that ‘investigation in underway with no arrests”.
Eye-witnesses have alleged that Pratapgarh municipal commissioner Ashok Jain was present at the scene when municipal officers were killing Zafar Khan, but he stood aside and did not intervene.
Following the killing of Khan, villagers blocked NH-113 for several hours. The incidents is being regarded as communal as the Pratapgarh assemble seat is held by BJP. Jamaat-e-Islaami Hind Jaipur chapter regarded the incident as ‘communal lynching’.
Zafar was famous among the villagers as he a social activist. Locals reported that a few days back, Zafar Khan asked administration for construction of some public toilets in the village as the residents of the village are poore. As per the inputs received, Khan’s body was kept in mortuary of the hospital and police has imposed section 144 in the village.