New Delhi, April 12, 2023 (PPI-OT):Mere suspicion of theft cost 31-year-old Sheikh Firoz his life as he was brutally beaten up by a mob in Khandwa city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh on Sunday (9 April) morning. The merciless mob not only thrashed the victim but left him to die in drainage after he became unconscious. Some locals found Firoz, a resident of the city’s Khan Shah Wali Colony, and rushed him to the nearby district hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. The family of the deceased and members of the Muslim community staged a huge protest at Moghat police station carrying Firoz’s body. They raised slogans demanding justice. They termed it a “case of communal lynching”.

Local newspaper reports claimed that Firoz was caught stealing a grocery item from a shop. He was attacked by some local residents resulting in his death later. Sheikh Zubair, Firoz’s younger brother, told the media that a group of Hindus lynched him. Reacting to the allegation of theft, Zubair asked even if he is accused of theft, is it fair to kill him? “They could have beaten him, filed a complaint against him, handed him over to the police, but they killed him”, he said. Firoz, an iron welder, was set to get married after Eid. He was getting married to the girl he loved, Zubair said. “Our mother arranged his love marriage, he was so happy but our happiness turned into mourning in the blink of an eye,” he said.

Earlier this week, two Muslims, Mohammad Adnan and Afzal Khan were attacked by Hindutva goons, who threw chilli powder in their eyes and attempted to stab them with a knife in the Padam Nagar area of Kahndwa district. Somehow, they managed to save their lives and later filed a complaint at the Padam Nagar police station. There has been a surge in communal incidents targeting the Muslims in Khandwa and its neighbouring regions since the anti-Muslim violence in Khargone city of Madhya Pradesh during the celebrations of Hindu festival Ram Navami last year.

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