A fruit vendor’s 26-year-old specially abled son, identified as Mohammed Isaar, was tied to an electric pole with saffron cloth and beaten to death in the national capital on the suspicion of stealing prasad from a stall near a temple on Tuesday, police sources said.

The incident took place in northeast Delhi’s Sundar Nagri. Northeast Delhi had witnessed riots in February 2020 in which 53 people, mostly Muslims, were killed.

A police officer said several people were detained on Wednesday in connection with the alleged lynching. “A probe is underway and we are examining CCTV footage and videos shot on mobile phones to identify the accused,” he said.

“Mohammed Isaar’s family has alleged that he was beaten to death on the suspicion of stealing prasad from a stall that had been set up by some people near a temple in the area,” the officer said.

Isaar’s family members and neighbours have alleged that several Hindu residents who had flocked to the area remained mute spectators as the youth was mercilessly assaulted.

“A preliminary probe revealed that the victim was mentally ill and could not provide satisfactory answers when confronted by the attackers. They tied him to a pole and brutally beat him with sticks,” another police officer said.

A video of the incident widely circulated on social media purports to show Isaar tied to an electricity pole with several rounds of saffron cloth as people take turns to hit him with sticks. At one point two men are seen hitting him as Isaar cries in pain. A part of the video was shot in daylight while some other portions were captured in the dark, suggesting the assault continued for a long time.

Initially, a man can be heard saying “don’t beat him”. But the others keep thrashing Isaar even as he cries in pain and pleads for mercy. The attackers are also heard hurling abuses at Isaar.

The victim was specially abled, deputy commissioner of police (northeast) Joy
Tirkey said. Isaar had four sisters.

The police have registered a case of murder on a complaint from Isaar’s father Abdul Wajid, 60, a fruit vendor and resident of Sundar Nagri. He alleged that his son died after he was brutally assaulted by some people on suspicion of theft.

“Wajid said his son was found lying with severe injury marks all over his body on Tuesday afternoon,” a police officer said.

The incident, the officer said, took place on Tuesday morning. One of Wajid’s neighbours spotted Isaar lying on the street around 5pm and took him home in an e-rickshaw. Isaar later succumbed to his injuries.

The National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) strongly condemned the killing of Isaar.

“According to reports, Isaar was tied to a pillar and beaten to death for allegedly consuming prasad at a temple in the area,” Muralidharan, general secretary of the NPRD, said in a statement.

“Incidents of abuse, physical attacks and killings of disabled people are being reported at regular intervals. However, this has acquired a much more dangerous dimension with disabled people being targeted for their religious identity,” he added.

According to him, this is the third such killing of disabled persons this year. “On February 25, a Muslim youth, Mohammad Faiyaz, a person with ‘mental health issues’, was beaten to death by a mob in Bihar’s Samastipur. Again in Bihar’s Saran district on June 27, 55-year-old Zahiruddin, a disabled truck driver, was lynched by a mob of cow vigilantes,” Muralidharan said.

Last year, in Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh, Banwarlal Jain, an elderly person with disabilities, succumbed after being brutally beaten over suspicion of being a Muslim. “All these are the outcome of a sustained poisonous hate-filled communal campaign,” Muralidharan said.

“While some arrests have been made, the case should be taken to its logical conclusion and justice delivered. Adequate compensation should be paid to the victim’s family,” he added.