Less than a week after the West Bengal government passed a bill on anti-lynching, the police were attacked when they tried to save a person from being lynched.
The incident took place on Tuesday in Rajgunj of Jalpaiguri district in north Bengal. A group of local people alleged that a person had been involved in theft and attacked him. When police went to rescue him, the police vehicle was attacked with bricks, and the windscreen was broken.
Later, he was admitted to the hospital, and seven persons were arrested for being involved in the attack.
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 for offences. 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.
