Deeds that shook India’s conscience

The country’s conscience was shaken early this month when a man hacked a migrant labourer in Rajasthan and burnt his body. The killer, Shambhulal 
Regar (inset), made his nephew film the incident and later circulated the video on WhatsApp, claiming that he did it to save his ‘sister’ from love jihad. But the woman he was referring to said she had nothing to do with Afrazul Islam, the victim. The clip ignited an outcry from rights groups, who demanded strict action against Regar.

On June 23, Manjula Shetye, a 45-year-old convict in Mumbai’s Byculla jail, was allegedly brutally assaulted by prison staffers which led to her death. Shetye’s death triggered an unrest on the jail premises with Indrani Mukherjea, who is accused of killing her daughter Sheena Bora, protesting along with other inmates. The angry protesters even set prison properties on fire. The incident prompted authorities to order a top-level inquiry. The Mumbai Crime Branch took over the investigations and arrested six jail staffers for the death of Shetye.

On September 8, A 7-year-old Class II student was found in a pool of blood in the toilet of Ryan International School in Gururgram, with his throat slit. The news sent a shock waves across Delhi. Gurugram police, who were the first responders, arrested a school bus conductor for the murder. But it was only after the case was handed over to the CBI, the shoddy probe and forced confession of the conductor by the police came to fore. CBI apprehended a Class IX student for the murder on the basis of a CCTV footage from the school lobby.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s hometown Kannur has been witness to gruesome violence against Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh karyakartas as at least 14 of them have been killed by the Left party cadre. While other states witness sporadic incidents of political party cadre attacking each other, the number is abnormally high in Kerala. It was this violence against RSS and Bharatiya Janata Party activists that made BJP national president Amit Shah to take out a Jan Raksha Yatra in October. Shah alleged that more than 120 BJP and RSS workers were killed in Kerala and said that lotus will bloom in Kerala.

A 15-year-old boy, Junaid Khan, while returning from Old Delhi after Eid shopping, with his cousins and a friend, was stabbed and beaten to death by a group of men in local train near Ballabhgarh railway station. The juvenile was killed following an argument with a man, a daily passenger, over sharing a seat. Junaid and his companions were allegedly asked to raise communal slogans, and then were assaulted. All the six accused were arrested.

In April, a 23-year-old post-graduation student ended his life by jumping off the 19th floor of a five-star hotel in Bandra. Before the final leap, Arjun Bharadwaj went live on Facebook and recorded a 1.43-minute-long video giving a tutorial on how to end one’s life. A note found at the hotel said the Bengaluru resident had taken the extreme step due to depression. He also left notes to people who were close to him.

In one of the worst terror strikes in Jammu and Kashmir in recent years, attackers targeted a bus, killing seven Amarnath pilgrims and wounding 15 others, all from Gujarat. The strike at Batangoo in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district on July 10 was shocking particularly because Amarnath Yatris had never faced any problem in the Kashmir Valley for decades. The attack was carried out despite forces deployed in the Valley had received an intelligence warning.

On October 7, In an incident that freaked out both the police department as well as the residents of Shahadra, an 82-year-old woman and her three daughters, and their security guard, were found dead with their throats slit at a sprawling property owned by the family in the Mansarovar Park area. It took a while for the Delhi Police to crack the case and arrest the security guard’s son, son-in-law and two other relatives for planning a dacoity and the murders. The Commissioner of Police himself had visited the crime spot.

In September, a 29-year-old Bandra-based Pianist committed suicide by jumping from his flat at Concord building in Bandra West. Joseph lived with a friend, who faced the allegations of having driven Joseph to end his life. Joseph’s parents said they were continuously in touch with him but never felt that their son was under any kind of stress or depression. The Bandra police also recorded the statement of an Estonian national who was present in the flat when Joseph committed suicide. A probe is on.