Mob lynching of murder accused: NHRC issues notice to UP government, police chief
The human rights panel asked the DGP to submit a detailed report of the inquiry within four weeks.
The National Human Rights Commission on Tuesday issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government and the state’s director general of police over reports of a man being beaten to death for allegedly killing a teacher, PTI reported.
On Monday, the man suspect was lynched in the presence of police officers in the state’s Kushinagar district, said the police. In a video, which has been widely shared on social media, people can be seen using sticks to assault the man after he attempted to escape following the crime even as a few police personnel tried to stop the mob.
The commission, which took suo motu cognisance of the matter, asked the director general of police to submit a detailed report on the status of the inquiry in the case within four weeks. It also directed the state’s chief secretary to submit a report on whether the next of kin of the deceased was granted any relief as the state failed to “secure the right to fair trial of the victim,” the human rights panel said in a statement.
The chief secretary will need to inform if any disciplinary action was initiated against the police officials who failed to protect the man, the statement added.
The man who was lynched had allegedly shot dead a school teacher, identified as Sudhir Kumar Singh, in his home. The police said the man who was lynched was from Gorakhpur and had travelled identified himself as a friend of the teacher’s brother before shooting Singh dead.
After the shooting, the man attempted to escape but reached the terrace of Singh’s home as he spotted that a crowd had gathered. The man then locked himself in a room following a shoot-out with the police.
“The crowd broke down the door and caught hold of him,” the police had said. “Before our officers could reach the man from the terrace of the next building, the mob had already thrashed him badly. He died after being brought out into the street.”
The panel, however, said the video of the incident which emerged later showed the man being grabbed away by the villagers from police custody and beaten to death.