First, two Hindu sadhus and their driver were suspected to be child-lifters, out to steal kidneys and other organs, and were lynched to death. Even the policemen who came to their rescue were beaten up and forced to retreat. This happened at Gadchinchale village in Palghar district on April 16, 2020, when the country was under lockdown. An attempt was made to turn the incident into a communal issue but out of the 100 or so people who were arrested, all belonged to the same community as the victims. In a similar incident, three nomadic Sikh boys were mercilessly beaten up in Parbhani district by a group of people who suspected that they were goat lifters. Such was the beating that one of the boys died while the two others are in a serious condition.
In the instant case, the Maharashtra Police have arrested four persons, including one Akram Patel, who is a former sarpanch. From the reports available, he played a major role in the attack on the boys who arrived there by a motorcycle. Earlier, a goat was stolen from the area and when they saw these boys, they assumed that they were the guilty ones and began to take the law into their own hands. In both incidents, social media, especially WhatsApp, played a major role in fanning rumours and conditioning the minds of the people to assume that the first stranger they saw was the guilty one. In popular perception, lynching was reserved for those who stole cows or slaughtered them. Now, it can be wielded against anyone, accused of anything.
Lynching is a heinous and barbaric practice that has no place in any civilised society. The practice is a clear violation of human rights and undermines the rule of law. It is a form of extrajudicial punishment, where a group of people administer punishment to an individual or group without any legal authority. This goes against the basic principles of justice, which demands that every individual has the right to a fair trial and due process. The practice is often fuelled by mob mentality, where a group of people are incited to violence by rumours, false information, or prejudices. This leads to innocent people being targeted and subjected to violence, often resulting in severe injuries or even death as in the two incidents commented upon. No leniency should be shown to the guilty who deserve the severest punishment.
