Bihar: Family of Lynched Muslim Vendor Alleges He Died As Police Denied Private Hospital Treatment

Nalanda/Nawada (Bihar): As one and a half months passed, the family of late Md. Athar Hussain has many questions unanswered and one among them is – why didn't the police allow the family to take Athar to a private hospital for better treatment? 

The family members believe that had the police allowed them to take Athar to a private hospital, he would have been alive today.

Sitting at his home in Bihar Sharif in Bihar's Nalanda district, Athar’s younger brother Md. Chand told The Wire, “Treatment was not proper at the Nawada Sadar Hospital. So we wanted to take him to a private hospital. I had talked to the doctor and the doctor agreed.”

He was about to take him to a private hospital but two police constables deputed at the hospital for Athar didn’t agree, added Chand.  The constables, he said, “Spoke to the investigating officer (IO) who told me that he can’t be taken to a private hospital as there has been an FIR (first information report) against Athar in Roh police station in Nawada.”

“We even went to the local court to get permission for his transfer to a private hospital. But, IO told the court that his treatment at the Sadar Hospital was satisfactory,” Chand mentioned.

Roh police station. Photo: Umesh Kumar Ray.

Athar was admitted to Nawada Sadar Hospital on December 6 and on December 11 he was suddenly transferred to Bhagwan Mahaveer Institute of Medical Sciences (BMIMS) in Pawapuri, Nalanda district.

Chand said that only at midnight Athar was taken to the BMIMS by the local police when his condition worsened. “When we went to see him on the morning of December 12, he was breathing from mouth. We somehow took permission from BMIMS to take him to a private hospital. We took him in an ambulance and were on the way to a private hospital, but he died in Bihar Sharif town.”

He added that Athar's condition was a little better when he was admitted at Nawada Sadar Hospital but it worsened as he was not being treated in Sadar Hospital.

The police, however, denied the allegation.

"The police have zero power in matters of treatment. If the doctor writes a referral, the patient will be transferred. Our only job was to transport the patient. The doctor is the one who writes the referral, we can't do anything about it. This is a matter between the doctor and the patient; the police have no involvement whatsoever,” a police officer at Roh police station, told The Wire.  

Dr. Binod Kumar Chaudhary, civil surgeon at Nawada Sadar Hospital refuted the police's claim. “In police cases, police and patient parties decide where to take the patient. We have nothing to do with it. If the condition of any patient worsens we can refer him to another government hospital,” Dr. Chaudhary told The Wire. 

Lynched while returning

Forty-five-year-old Athar,  a resident of Gagan Diwan area of Bihar Sharif was a mobile vendor and had been vending clothes on cycle for more than one and half decades. He would travel to nearby areas and often go to Nawada and stay there for a week.

His wife, 40-year-old Shabnam Parveen, told The Wire, “He had left the house on the morning of December 5. He called us after reaching Nawada and told us that he will be back after a week.”

Shabnam Parveen with her two children. She is wary of her two sons and a daughter' future. Photo: Umesh Kumar Ray.

Athar’s in-laws stay in Nawada, so he decided to stay there, as he often used to do. 

But, next day, the family came to know that Athar was lynched allegedly for being a Muslim in Bhatta village of Nawada, about 50 kilometer away from  Bihar Sharif. 

Chand said, “A local youth showed me his photo which he got from the police as Athar told police that he is a resident of Gagan Diwan. We immediately rushed to Sadar Hospital where we found him lying on the bed.”

In his video statement before dying, Athar had described the brutality unleashed on him and also said that he was beaten for “being a Muslim”. 

“They opened my pants and they knew that I am a Muslim. They locked me in a room. They would put an iron rod on fire then beat me with a hot rod. One man cut my ears and fingers with a cutter. Some from the crowd were beaten with sticks. Some jumped on my chest. Some tried to strangulate me,” he said in the video.

Chand narrated that on the evening of December 5, Athar was returning from Bhatta village when his cycle got punctured. “He then asked locals about any cycle repairing shop nearby, when they started beating him.”

At around 11 pm, someone called the police emergency number. Police officials from Roh police station immediately reached the spot and recovered him. He was first taken to a local hospital and then transferred to Nawada Sadar Hospital. 

Next day, Shabnam lodged an FIR at Roh police station against ten named accused including Satyanarayan Yadav, and ten to 15 unknown accused. Police have so far arrested at least ten persons in connection with this case including the main accused Satyanarayan Yadav under various sections of Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) including section 117(4) which deals with hate crime. Satyanarayan Yadav’s family has lodged an FIR against Athar for theft. 

'Athar was a thief,' claim families of accused

The Wire visited the Bhatta village, which has a mixed population of Yadav and other backward and Scheduled Castes (SCs). The village has around 70-80 Muslim families. Yadav tola, the spot where the lynching episode happened, bears a deserted look as most men are on the run in fear of police crackdown. Few women agreed to talk to this reporter.   

Indu Devi, sister-in-law of prime accused Satyanarayan Yadav told The Wire, “My mother had died on December 5, so all the male members were in the hospital that evening and the house was locked. When Satyanarayan returned alone to the house he found Athar in the house. He shouted so a crowd gathered and they started beating him.”

She alleged that a marriage had recently taken place, so there were utensils and jewellery in the house, which he tried to steal, and that he was not a vendor.

The locked room of Bhatta village, where Md. Athar Hussain was lynched. Photo: Umesh Kumar Ray.

“Whether he was a businessman or someone else, he should have told the crowd. If he had told the crowd where he came from and what his caste was, he wouldn't have been beaten,” she added, “The puncture story is a lie. Many vendors come to sell things every day in this village… So do we beat everyone? Where is there a puncture shop here that he would have come to fix his cycle?” She denied that he was beaten for being a Muslim.

Like her husband, Shabnam also refuted these allegations and alleged that Athar was killed for being a Muslim. “He was killed after being asked about his religion and caste, I don't know why. It happened to us today, it could happen to someone else tomorrow,” she said.

Another local, Kiran Devi, whose two family members have been arrested by the police, also claimed that he was not a vendor. “He wasn't a vendor, but a thief. So many street vendors come here every day, and nobody does anything to them.”

Kiran Devi, however, admitted that beating him so brutally was wrong and the accused shouldn't have done that. “They should have locked him in a room. He wasn't even that big of a thief. If he were a dacoit, he would have kept arms with him. He only had a small rod,” she said.

Md. Murtaza of Bhatta village termed the theft attempt allegation as baseless.

“The villagers didn't know that there were utensils and jewellery in that house, and would a stranger know that there were goods there? That's something to think about. They are alleging that he broke five locks. How can someone break five locks in just 10-20 minutes? Anyone going to steal would carry a deadly weapon, but Athar didn't have any weapon.” 

Ironically, after a month and a half, the police are yet to recover Athar's bicycle and clothes. A police officer from Roh police station told The Wire, "We searched the entire village, but the bicycle and the vendor's goods have not been found yet. The search is ongoing; we'll see what happens."

Soon after the incident, Bihar minister Md. Zama Khan had visited the grieving family and assured them a compensation of Rs 3 lakh and a government job for a family member. However, the family is yet to receive the compensation. Zama Khan told The Wire, “The process is underway. Such things take time. The department is working on it, and the family will receive the compensation and the government job.”

Meanwhile, Shabnam has another question. She asked, “How can someone kill a vendor like this? Do the poor have no right to live?”  She has three children – two sons and a daughter (aged between 12 and 19 years). The elder son is in Mumbai. The daughter is studying in the ninth standard and the younger son is in the sixth standard. 

“Now who will feed my children? Who will give them their father's love? My health is also poor; I am a heart patient, and there is no guarantee of my life. If something happens to me, who will look after my children,” she said with a trembling voice.

Many recent incidents: Branded as Bangladeshis, beaten up

In the last one and half months, apart from the Nawada incident, the state reported two more cases of hate crimes where Muslims were targeted by mobs.

On December 30, a Muslim labourer Nurshed Alam from Supaul district was beaten by a crowd in Chakdah village of Madhubani district on suspicion of being a 'Bangladeshi'. When Nurshed didn’t return home, his brother started searching for him and finally recovered him from Chakdah village and admitted him to the Rajnagar Primary Health Centre. 

A video of the incident went viral on social media.  The police took cognisance of the matter and lodged an FIR against the accused. The police later arrested three persons in connection with this case. Madhubani SP told the media that the youth was branded as a Bangladeshi and attacked. He is a resident of  Supaul district and working as mason in Madhubani.

Similarly, on January 11, a Muslim utensil vendor Akmal Rahman was beaten on the allegation of being a Bangladeshi in Katihar district.

Akmal, a resident of Kodha area of the district, had gone to Chakla village under Pothia police station when two youths branded him a Bangladeshi and attacked him. He was rescued by local women who are regular buyers of his utensils. Media reports suggest that the accused youths had snatched Rs 12,000 from Akmal's pocket.

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