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‘A hate crime’: Delhi HC orders CBI probe into death of Muslim man beaten, forced to sing national anthem
What is worse is that the suspects were entrusted to act as custodians of the law, and were in a position of power and authority, but seemed to have been driven by bigoted mindsets, the court said
The judge reminded that ‘mob vigilantism and mob violence do not cease to be so merely because these are perpetrated, not by ordinary citizens, but by policemen themselves’.
| Photo Credit: File photo
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday ordered the transfer of the probe into the death of 23-year-old Faizan, who was beaten up and forced to sing the national anthem by policemen during the 2020 north-east Delhi riots, from Delhi Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The incident dates back to February 2020 when a video clip had gone viral showing Faizan and four other Muslim men, apparently injured, being beaten up by the police with batons and forced to sing the national anthem and ‘Vande Mataram’.
Kismatun, Faizan’s mother, sought a court-monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into her son’s death.
Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani questioned the investigating agency for failing to “conclusively identify” the policemen involved in the case even after four years of investigation. “More than four and a half years have elapsed since. However, not even one of the policemen involved in the abuse and assault has been conclusively identified in the course of the investigation so far,” the judge said.
“It is extremely important to note that this case presents allegations of gross violation of human rights, in as much as the unlawful actions of the policemen, who are yet to be identified, were motivated and driven by religious bigotry and, therefore, would amount to a ‘hate crime’,” the court said.
Justice Bhambhani said, “The investigation in the present case has evidently been tardy, sketchy, and conveniently sparing of the persons who are suspected to be involved in brutally assaulting the petitioner’s son.”
“What is worse is that the suspects were entrusted to act as custodians of the law, and were in a position of power and authority, but seemed to have been driven by bigoted mindsets,” he added.
In the 33-page judgment, the High Court took note of the existence of two sets of video footage, one, which shows Faizan alone being encircled and beaten mercilessly by policemen; and the second, which shows several young men, including Faizan, lying in an injured state on the road near Kardampuri pulia and the 66-foota road, and being surrounded and brutally assaulted by policemen.
The High Court said “several policemen present at the spot are clearly seen surrounding, dragging, kicking and striking blows on Faizan and the other young men with batons/lathis, abusing them, and ordering them to sing the national anthem while they are lying seriously injured and helpless on the roadside”.
While the incident happened on February 24, 2020, the Crime Branch of Delhi Police examined Ms. Kismatun for the first time only on March 18, 2020.
“The perpetrators of the crime are therefore still at large, though they are all members of the police force in Delhi,” the judge said.
“In the present case, apart from the fact that the custodians of the law are themselves accused of having committed its breach, the perpetrators of the offence are themselves members of the agency that is investigating them. This situation does not inspire confidence,” the High Court added.
The judge reminded that “mob vigilantism and mob violence do not cease to be so merely because these are perpetrated, not by ordinary citizens, but by policemen themselves. If anything, the element of abomination gets aggravated if hate crime is committed by persons in uniform”.
Unanswered question
The court said no investigation has been conducted so far in relation to what transpired at the Jyoti Nagar police station after Faizan was brought there from Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital (GTB) Hospital.
It also questioned why the police would keep Faizan at the police station “for his own safety at a time when the police were overwhelmed with responsibility because of the ongoing riots”.
The court said the police have taken a “very convenient stand” that all CCTV cameras installed at the police station were malfunctioning at that crucial time and, therefore, no CCTV footage is available from within the police station to show the condition of any of the persons who were there at that time.
It said the question as to whether anything happened to Faizan when he was kept within the confines of the Jyoti Nagar police station overnight and until late the next day, has “remained unacknowledged and unaddressed. That issue appears to have been brushed under the carpet by the police”.
Detained for 36 hours
In August 2020, Amnesty International India, in its report on the north-east Delhi riots, had highlighted the death of Faizan. The NGO had said that the 23-year-old was allegedly detained by the police for close to 36 hours without any charge and then handed him over to his mother after his condition deteriorated.
While Faizan’s murder case was registered at the Bhajanpura police station on February 28, 2020, the investigation was later transferred to the Crime Branch of Delhi Police on March 4, 2020.
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