Days after cattle trader Qasim was lynched and farmer Samiuddin was brutally beaten by a mob in Hapur, Uttar Pradesh, over rumours of cow slaughter, another video of the incident has emerged online sending shockwaves across the region.
After the incident came to light, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi took to Twitter to slam the incident and questioned if India would soon become Rwanda.
Calling the lynching "shameful," Owaisi tweeted: "Rwanda is coming? Bloody shameful I hope the 'Political Maulanas' of 'Secular Political' parties wake up & stop preaching about ideas which are finished." He went on to add that it is high time that Indian Muslims "fight back and save India."
Owaisi's comment came after the new video shows the 65-year-old farmer bleeding and pleading with the crowd to let him go. However, the mob continues thrashing him while asking him to name his other accomplices. The farmer is heard insisting that he did not slaughter any cow.
Samiuddin was later rushed to the hospital and his condition is known to be critical, reported the Times of India.
Meanwhile, Qasim, who was with Samiuddin, was beaten to death on June 18 after the mob reportedly saw him shooing away a cow and a calf on a field. The mob believed that the animals were being taken to the slaughter-house, after which the duo was attacked with sticks.
A video was also shot, which showed the two men writhing in pain as several people were seen standing around, making no effort to help.
Despite the videos, the police report termed the case as an incident of road rage. "Two people were passing through the village on a motorcycle. They fought with some locals over the right of way. After that, they were assaulted and one person died. The FIR filed by the family says the motorcycle of the two men collided with another one and that led to an argument," NDTV quoted Pawan Kumar, a senior police officer, as saying.
However, many believe that this was a pre-planned murder and the family could have been forced to sign the complaint that spoke of road rage.
The Rwandan genocide
The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, was a mass slaughter of the Tutsi ethnic group by the Hutu majority government. About 10,00,000 people were killed during the 100-day period between April 7 and to mid-July 1994.
