2015 Dadri mob lynching

2015 Dadri Lynching
Dadri Dadri (India)
Location	Dadri, India
Date	28 September 2015
Target	Akhlaq family
Attack type	Lynching
Deaths	1 (Mohammad Akhlaq)
Non-fatal injuries	1 (Danish Akhlaq)
Perpetrators	Violent Villagers

The 2015 Dadri mob lynching refers to case of mob lynching in which a mob of villagers attacked the home of a Muslim man Mohammed Ikhlaq, with sticks and bricks, who they suspected of stealing and slaughtering a stolen cow calf, on the night of 28 September 2015 in Bisara village near Dadri, Uttar Pradesh, India. 52-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq Saifi (Ikhlaq according to some sources) died in that attack and his son, 22-year-old Danish seriously injured. Later an Indian court found prima facie evidence of cow slaughter and ordered registration of first information report against the slain Mohammed Ikhlaq.

On 28 September 2015 evening, one of Ikhlaq's neighbors accused him of stealing and slaughtering his missing calf. Soon a crowd gathered and insisted on searching the house of Ikhlaq for traces of slaughter. This was refused by family of suspect. Soon things took ugly turn when two boys used the local temple's public announced that the family of Mohammad Akhlaq had killed the cow calf and consumed its meat on Eid-ul-Adha. Cows are sacred in Hinduism and in most Indian states killing them is unlawful, including the one where this incident took place. Later, the police said that this was the cause of the outrage of citizens.

Mob carrying sticks arrived at Mohammad Akhlaq's house at around 10:30pm. The family had finished dinner and were about to go to sleep. Akhlaq and his son Danish were already asleep. The mob woke them and accused them of consuming beef. They found some meat in the refrigerator and seized it, but the family insisted it was mutton. The mob dragged the entire family outside and Akhlaq and Danish were repeatedly kicked, hit with bricks and stabbed. The family's neighbours tried to stop the mob but were not able to. The police were called and arrived an hour later. By then, Akhlaq was dead and Danish was badly injured.

The family had been living in the village for about the 70 years. The family consisted of Akhlaq, 52; his brother Jan Mohammad Saifi, 42; mother Asgari Begum, 82; wife Ikram; son Danish, 22; and daughter Sajida. Akhlaq's elder son, Mohammad Sartaj, 27, works as a corporal-ranked technician in the Indian Air Force and was in Chennai at the time of attack.

The police arrested the temple's priest and his assistant for questioning. A first information report (FIR) was filed naming ten of the attackers based on the testimony of the family members. The FIR contained charges under Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 458 (house-breaking), and 504 (intentional insult with intent to breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code. Six of them were found and arrested by 1 October. On 1 October, the number of arrests went to eight. The arrests were protested by locals. The protesters set fire on vehicles and vandalised shops. The police had to fire in the air to disperse them. One person was injured in the protests. Personnel from Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary and the Rapid Action Force were deployed in the village.