New Delhi: The family of an e-rickshaw driver who died five days after being assaulted by kanwariyas in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh have insisted that he died from the injuries suffered at the hands of the saffron-clad pilgrims and not due to any pre-existing illness as claimed by the police.
Mohit’s family also alleged that the police made them submit an affidavit stating that they did not want any further legal action in the matter.
The incident took place on July 23, when Mohit became another victim of mob violence by kanwariyas during this year’s Kanwar Yatra.
Mohit’s e-rickshaw brushed against one of the kanwars carried by the kanwariyas in Muzaffarnagar’s Khatauli area. They accused him of desecration. Sensing the outrage among the kanwariyas, Mohit tried to escape from the scene, but his vehicle turned turtle as it lost balance in his desperate bid to get away, police said.
The kanwariyas grabbed him and assaulted him, the Muzaffarnagar police stated, adding that a local police team reached the spot and calmed the situation.
Police further said that Mohit “suffered minor injuries” in the attack and was taken home by his family after receiving first aid at a hospital.
On July 28 night, Mohit died. This is where his family have disputed the police version.
Soon after Mohit’s death, Muzaffarnagar police issued a press note saying that on July 28 night, Mohit suffered severe pain in his chest. His family took him to a hospital but the doctors declared him dead, the police said.
The police also claimed that Mohit’s family “did not want any legal action”. Mohit died due to an illness he had been suffering from for a while, the police said, quoting his family.
The police was left red-faced after Mohit’s sister Neelam, speaking in front of local news television channels, contradicted the official claims.
Neelam said that her brother had been brutally assaulted by the kanwariyas. “The bhole (kanwariyas) beat him in such a way that he appeared almost dead. If he had collided against them, they could have hit him slightly,” she said.
Neelam said that Mohit had received injuries on his head, chest, waist and legs. There may have been “internal injuries,” she said, not ruling out the possibility that Mohit may have been stabbed.
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Neelam dismissed the police’s version that Mohit died due to a pre-existing illness.
“He was a healthy young man. How can he be ill, when he was out driving an e-rickshaw,” she asked.
She also alleged that the affidavit submitted to the station house officer of Khatauli in their name was drafted on the dictation of the police itself.
“I’m an illiterate person. We wrote down whatever the police dictated,” Neelam said.
In an affidavit shared by local media, Mohit’s family allegedly said that “nobody was to blame” for his death.
“We don’t need any police action. He died due to illness,” the affidavit said, adding that the family also did not want the police to conduct any postmortem of the body.
While talking to the media, Neelam did say that they decided against conducting a post mortem but also asked if the police were trying to protect someone.
Police have insisted that the allegations that Mohit died due to the assault of the kanwariyas were “false and baseless”.
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After Neelam came out in public, Muzaffarnagar police issued a small rejoinder on social media site X, saying that the family had “refused to take any legal action at the time.”
Adopting a “humanitarian approach,” the police handed over Mohit’s body to his family, said Muzaffarnagar police.
The district police also said that Mohit’s sister Neelam had refused the police request for carrying out an autopsy of the body.
