In a move that may get justice for Pehlu Khan, the Rajasthan government on Friday decided to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to re-investigate the cow-lynching case.
The decision to establish an SIT comes two days after an Alwar court acquitted six accused of lynching Khan on suspicion of cattle smuggling two years ago.
राजस्थान सरकार द्वारा भीड़ द्वारा हत्या के खिलाफ कानून बनाने की पहल सराहनीय है। आशा है कि पहलू खान मामले में न्याय दिलाकर इसका अच्छा उदाहरण पेश किया जाएगा।
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) August 16, 2019
The Congress government’s decision to order a reprobe came soon after party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi termed the lower court verdict as ‘shocking’.
“The lower court verdict in Pehlu Khan case is quite shocking. Inhumanity should have no place in our country and mob lynching is a serious crime,” Priyanka had said in tweet on Friday.
Pehlu Khan (55), his two sons and a few others were transporting cows from Jaipur when they were allegedly stopped and thrashed by a mob near Behror in Alwar district on April 1, 2017. Khan, a resident of Jaisinghpura village in Haryana’s Nuh district, died in hospital on April 3.
The Rajasthan legislative assembly had on August 5 passed a bill providing for life imprisonment and a fine up to Rs 5 lakh to convicts in cases of mob lynching involving the victim’s death.
(With Agency Inputs)