india

Updated: Apr 12, 2019 05:15 IST

“I was a minor then but now I feel that I should have stopped people as no human being should be killed for (killing) an animal,” said one of the suspects in the lynching of 55-year-old Mohammad Ikhlaq in Bisada in September 2015. This is for the first time that any of the 18 suspects in the case have expressed remorse over the lynching.

Four years after the brutal murder of Ikhlaq, the incident and subsequent arrest of villagers continued to haunt the locals as they stepped out to exercise their franchise in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on Thursday. Bisada comes under the Gautam Budh Nagar parliamentary constituency, where Union minister Mahesh Sharma is trying to retain the seat he won in 2014.

Now 20, the suspect, however, clarified that he did not attack Ikhlaq, he “was only there”. “I was in jail for around a year and currently I am out on bail. I didn’t attack Ikhlaq but I was there. I feel that the incident could have been avoided. But, our village will vote for the party who will stand for Hindus,” he said.

“We knew Ikhlaq’s family well and never had any issues. Today, I feel that neither he was wrong nor were we, but still I feel extremely uncomfortable whenever I think about the incident. They were not our enemies. Everything happened in the spur of the moment. Nobody could think much at that time,” he said.

UP chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had started his poll campaign from Bisada.

Villagers are still upset with the Samajwadi Party, which was in power in the state when the lynching took place. People are upset that while eighteen people, including three juveniles, were arrested from the village, the state government provided financial aid to Ikhlaq’s family. Local residents also complained about media highlighting the incident “too much”.

“Earlier our village was known for its Rajput community. Now, it is known for the murder of Ikhlaq,” said Niranjan Singh, 50, who runs a sweet shop in the village market.

Of the 18 arrested, one suspect died in the jail while the remaining are out on bail. “I was in jail for 21 months. But I never felt embarrassed because the villagers support us and know that we are innocent. We want a party which will stand for Hindus,” said Shree Om, 26, one of the suspects in the case.

After being abandoned by his family, the house of Ikhlaq now lies unattended. Two other adjacent houses, which belonged Ikhlaq’s brothers, have also been abandoned.

“Two of my nephews have been booked for the murder of Ikhlaq. We were friends with Ikhlaq’s family as they lived next door. I have caste my vote, keeping the rights of Hindus in mind,” said Manju Devi, 42, who lives near Ikhlaq’s house.

After a mob lynched Ikhlaq, 55, and beat up his son, Danish, on the suspicion of consuming and storing beef, his family shifted to Delhi to stay with Sartaj — Ikhlaq’s elder son who is with the Indian Air Force.

The UP government later provided the family a flat in Greater Noida, but they continue to live in Delhi. Ikhlaq’s family members have not visited Bisada in the last two years.