Days after Jharkhand resident Tabrez Ansari succumbed to injuries, sustained from hours-long assault by a mob in Dhatkidih village of Jharkhand’s Seraikela-Kharsawan district, no one denies that the 22-year-old was beaten up. After all, they argue, he had “committed theft”.
Equally, not one of the several local residents The Indian Express spoke with are willing to blame the 11 accused arrested, or condemn the incident. After all, they argued, what will be an alternative reaction to theft.
A video had emerged that shows the crowd had tied Ansari to a pole in the village and purportedly asked him to chant “Jai Shri Ram” and “Jai Hanuman” after he was caught for an alleged theft.