Mother alleges hate crime in Palwal killing; cops doubt it

Gurgaon: Probing the murder of a 22-year-old man, who is purportedly seen in a video being attacked with what appear to be rods and sticks by three of his friends in a Palwal village, police have said a preliminary investigation has ruled out a hate crime.
The family of the youth, Rahul Khan, has said he was killed because he was Muslim. They pointed out that one of the youths attacking Rahul in the 30-second video says, “We are Hindus, you are a Muslim.”
“My son was killed because he was Muslim. We want the strictest punishment for them,” said Rahul’s mother, Rajjo, at Sarai Khatela village. All three accused — Akash, Kalua and Vishal — have been arrested and police said they had admitted to the murder.
On December 14, Rahul and the three were returning from a wedding in Hoshangabad when they sat down to drink in Rasulpur village. An argument happened during the drinking session, and Rahul was allegedly beaten up by the trio. They later took him near a canal, where Vishal and Kalua allegedly thrashed him again while Akash recorded the video on his phone. Blood oozing from his face, when Rahul collapses in the video, one of the attackers can be heard saying “He has died”.
The three accused had allegedly told Rahul’s family he had suffered injuries in an accident. The 22-year-old was admitted to a hospital, where he died during treatment. The next day, Rahul’s relatives saw the video on social media, and approached police with a complaint of murder against the three youths. The assault video has since been shared widely on social media.
“You can clearly see in the video that the attackers are saying ‘we are Hindus, you are a Muslim’. What does that mean? Why is it so difficult to understand?” asked Azharuddin (32), Rahul’s brother-in-law.
Rahul, according to his relatives, knew the three for just two years or so. “Akash, Vishal and Kalua would take money from Rahul, but would never return it. I had only one son, and now they have snatched him from me. We are poor people, what will we do now?” asked Rajjo, whose husband is a daily-wage labourer.
Police have, however, claimed that it doesn’t seem to be a hate crime. “It was a fight over a cellphone. They were all drinking when Kalua’s phone fell from his pocket and Rahul hid it. This triggered an argument, which escalated into a fight. The murder is a fallout of that,” said Ram Chandra, the SHO of Chandhut police station.
The police said they got to know about the alleged murder from the video that was put up on social media and the reactions it attracted from people. “We have arrested the youths and they have confessed to the crime,” Chandra said, adding that the video had been sent for a test of its authenticity.
Asked about the communal remarks in the video, the SHO said, “Yes, we can hear them invoking religion. But according to our investigation so far, it doesn’t appear to be a hate crime. They were friends for two years and would play DJs at marriage functions together. A probe is on.”
The three accused have been booked under sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common Intention) of the IPC. “We have been cooperating with the deceased’s family from the very beginning. We have arrested the three men and the investigation is on,” Chandra said.
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