'Provoked' in name of religion, says Bombay HC judge while granting bail to 3 accused of killing Muslim youth

The Bombay High Court recently granted bail to three of the 21 arrested accused in connection with the murder of a Muslim youth, citing provocation in the name of religion.

28-year-old Mohsin Shaikh was murdered in Pune allegedly by members of the Hindu Rashtra Sena. The accused were granted bail last week by Bombay High Court judge Mridula Bhatkar.

In her January 12 order, Justice Mridula Bhatkar observed that “the fault of the deceased was only that he belonged to another religion. I consider this factor in favour of the applicants/accused," reported Indian Express.

"More-over, the applicants/accused do not have any criminal record and it appears that in the name of the religion, they were provoked and have committed the murder,”  Bhatkar observed in her order.

Shaikh was killed by a gang of youths who started attacking people at the Satav plot area in Hadapsar. Shaikh was returning home along with his cousin Amin Shaikh and Ejaj Bhagwan on two motorbikes.

The assailants had left their motorcycles and wooden sticks at the spot and the police were able to identify the assailants after seizing three motorcycles.

The gang started beating them with hockey sticks, cricket bats and also stoned them.

According to the IE report, Mohsin’s family plans to move the Supreme Court against the granting of bail to the accused. Of the 21 accused, 14 have been granted bail so far.