A mob allegedly beat a 28-year-old Dalit man to death in Alwar city in Rajasthan this week, after his motorcycle hit a woman, The Times of India reported on Saturday. Harish Jatav, who was admitted to a hospital in New Delhi, succumbed to his injuries on Thursday.

The police said the incident took place on Tuesday evening, around 7 pm on the Bhiwandi-Chopkani road. Angry residents thrashed Jatav, following which he fell unconscious. After treatment at a local hospital, Jatav was taken to Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi, where he died.

Alwar Superintendent of Police Paris Deshmukh, however, claimed that it was not a case of mob lynching, The Indian Express reported. “On July 16, Harish Jatav was on his way back from Bhiwadi when he met with an accident in Phalsa village with Hakeeman, 55, who was crossing the road,” Deshmukh said. “Next day, Hakeeman as well as Rattiram, Harish’s father, submitted separate complaints. In his complaint, Rattiram alleged that some people had assaulted Harish. Investigation so far, including accounts by independent eyewitnesses, does not point to a mob lynching.”

Jatav’s father alleged that a person called Umer Sher and his aides beat up the youth. On the other hand, Hakeeman’s husband Jamaludeen claimed that Jatav was heavily drunk. He alleged that his wife was crossing the road when Jatav’s speeding bike hit her and she fell unconscious.

Deshmukh said both parties have registered a first information report in the case. “We cannot call it a case of mob lynching until a detailed postmortem report is prepared by the doctors.”

Mob lynchings

There have been spate of mob lynchings around the country of late. Three men were beaten to death by a mob in a village in Bihar’s Saran district on Thursday night for allegedly trying to steal cattle.

On July 13, a mob beat up a police constable in Rajasthan’s Rajsamand district while he was trying to resolve a land dispute.

On June 18, a Muslim man identified as Tabrez Ansari was beaten up in Jharkhand’s Seraikela Kharsawan district for allegedly attempting to steal a motorcycle. The FIR said that the mob had also forced Ansari to chant “Jai Shri Ram” and “Jai Hanuman”. He died four days later.

A 25-year-old man was allegedly beaten up, verbally abused, and forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram”in Diva area of Maharashtra’s Thane district on June 24.