A 30-year-old man was lynched on Sunday morning in Howrah’s Malipanchghara. Ershad Seikh, a resident of Nadia, used to work as a labourer in a private engineering company. He used to stay in Ghusuri, Howrah with other labourers who worked with him in the same company. It was alleged that Ershad sneaked into a covered truck on Sunday morning, and driver Noor Alam thought he was stealing goods from the truck.
Alam allegedly raised an alarm and some local people tied up Ershad to a tree near a warehouse, beat him up, pelted stones at him and then left him on the road. Some people reported the matter to police on seeing the body, but by the time police reached the area, Ershad had died.
Y Raghubanshi, Howrah deputy commissioner of police, said investigation was on and the driver of the truck had been arrested and was being interrogated. CCTV footage from the area were being analysed to.
In another incident in Malda district, two youths – suspected to be thieves – were beaten up by local people in Englishbazar area. Haiyul Sheikh (22) and Salam Sheikh (20) were allegedly seen loitering around Pirojpur Women’s College at night which raised suspicion. When they were questioned, the duo said they were from Malda’s Kaliachak, which is notorious for organised crimes. The locals then started assaulting them.
Police reached the spot, rescued them and admitted them to Malda Medical College & Hospital. A probe is on. Salam Sheikh however said that they went there to visit a friend.
The Bengal government passed an Anti-lynching bill with effect from August 30 after a string of lynching took place across the country. According to the West Bengal (Prevention of Lynching) Bill, 2019, there will be a maximum punishment of life imprisonment and fines ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.
It defines lynching as “Any attempt or act of violence by a mob on the “grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, language, dietary practices, sexual orientation, political affiliation, ethnicity, or any other ground”.
Even those found guilty of assisting or interfering with the accused will be punished with imprisonment of up to three years and fined a maximum Rs 1 lakh. It also proposes a maximum one-year jail term and a fine up to Rs 50,000 for “publishing, communicating or disseminating offensive material by any method – physical or electronic”. Those who create “a hostile environment for a person or a group of persons” face maximum prison term of three years and fine up to Rs 1 lakh.
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