Bihar: One arrested in Muslim man’s death in Samastipur; police deny communal angle

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A Muslim labourer Mohammad Fayaz from Samastipur in Bihar was allegedly beaten up by few Hindu men at their house leading to his death. 


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Sana Ejaz | TwoCircles.net 

PATNA (BIHAR) — In Bihar’s Samastipur district, a Muslim man died after being allegedly beaten up by his employers at their house.

Mohammad Fayaz, 45, a resident of Balabhadrapur village in Samastipur district of Bihar falling under the Ujiarpur police station area, was found in a critical condition late at night on February 22 at the house of one Mahendra Paswan, a resident of the same village.

According to Fayaz’s family, he was brutally beaten up by Paswan’s which led to his death,

They said Fayaz was a daily wage labourer and was mentally unfit.

“Fayaz had gone to the house of liquor sellers Virender Paswan, Mahendra Paswan and Pappu Paswan late at night to collect his wages. He had done some work for them. They refused to pay him his wages and instead tied him up and beat him. When we came to know, we got him released and admitted him to the hospital, where he died during treatment,” Fayaz’s elder brother Mohammad Muslim said.

Muslim said the alleged assailants live nearby. “They [assailants] had turned on loud music while they brutally thrashed my brother,” he alleged.

Fayaz was rushed to the Sadar Hospital where he later died.

No communal angle: Police
When his dead body reached the village, the locals protested and raised slogans against the death. His dead body was kept on the road and the protesting locals blocked the main road.

Police from Ujairpur police station soon arrived at the spot. A FIR was lodged in the case and one of the accused Virendra Paswan was arrested.

Some locals claimed that there was a communal angle to the case as they had found some youth from the other community raising objectionable slogans after Fayaz’s death. As per them, the youth were raising slogans like, “Jo bhi Miyan aayega uska yahi haal hoga (All Muslims will meet the same fate).”

“The sloganeering stopped after intervention from the authorities,” a local said.

Ujiarpur police denied the communal angle in Fayaz’s death. “This is not a lynching case, nor was the person mentally ill. The man had gone to collect the money for wages, where he was beaten up and he died in the hospital during treatment,” a police official at Ujairpur police station said.

Village Mukhiya (head) Ajay said the atmosphere in the village has eased after tensions due to the death. “Virendra Paswan has been arrested, and Mahendra Paswan and Pappu Paswan will be arrested soon,” he said.

Fayaz was the lone breadwinner of the family and left behind his wife and four kids. The family has demanded action against the culprits and compensation and a job for the family.

Sana Ejaz is an independent journalist from Bihar. She tweets @SanaEjaz

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