Watch: Five years after attack, justice eludes Abdul Shameer, victim of cow vigilantism
Karwan-e-Mohabbat’s new video recounts the horrific incident that Shameer had to go through, and how it impacted his family’s life.
On August 23, 2014, 37-year-old Abdul Shameer was attacked by almost 50 cow vigilantes of Bajrang Dal for transporting cattle in his pick-up truck from Karnataka’s Uppinangady to Mangaluru. Two of Shameer’s colleagues were also injured in the brutal attack.
Karwan-e-Mohabbat, a collective documenting hate crimes across India, has released a video titled Who Attacked Abdul Shameer. It recounts the horrific incident that Shameer had to go through, and how it impacted his family’s life.
It took Shameer four months to regain consciousness after the attack. He had lost most of the movement in his limbs after the attack, and needed support to walk. Shameer’s mother is a bus driver and driving teacher, and supports the family, which includes her husband, Shameer and his wife and their six children.
Speaking to Karwan-e-Mohabbat, Shameer said that one of the men who attacked him was his friend, and he reminded him that the two had “eaten beef together at Taj Hotel”. The man, however, continued hitting him.
According to Shameer, the police has colluded with the suspects and turned the case around. The five people who were arrested were acquitted in 2018, and a case was registered against Shameer under the Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, 1964.