RANCHI/ BHOPAL: An Indian court sentenced 10 men to 10 years in jail on Wednesday for the lynching of a Muslim man, who died after being tortured and forced to chant Hindu slogans.

Tabrez Ansari was tied to a pole and tortured for 12 hours in 2019, as he cried and pleaded with a mob that accused him of burglary.

A video of the incident that went viral on social media showed the 24-year-old being forced to chant “Jai Sri Ram” — meaning “hail Lord Ram” — a slogan widely used by Hindu hardliners.

Police had later detained Ansari for theft while he was in critical condition, and took him to hospital days after, where he died while in custody.

In a separate incident, police charge man for urinating on tribal member

Following a public outcry, police arrested 12 Hindu men, two of whom were later acquitted due to lack of evidence.

The remaining 10 were convicted last week of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and each handed 10-year prison sentences on Wednesday.

Ansari’s wife, Shaista Parveen, who had accused police of aiding in the murder of her husband, said she will appeal the sentence to increase it.

“I respect the court order, but I am not fully satisfied with it. We will approach higher courts for justice,” she said.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been criticised for not speaking out against religious violence, has said he was “pained” by Ansari’s murder.

Modi’s Hindu nationalist government has been accused of turning a blind eye to a rising number of vigilante attacks on minority Muslims.

Rights groups say Hindu mobs have been emboldened under Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, which came to power in 2014.

Urinating on tribal member

In a separate incident, a man accused of publicly urinating on a member of a tribal community in central India had his home demolished by authorities on Wednesday after footage of the assault sparked public condemnation.

A video shared widely on social media appeared to show Pravesh Shukla urinating on his young victim in a dark street while nonchalantly smoking a cigarette.

The attack took place last year in the central Sidhi district, but only came to public attention this week.

Local police said Shukla had been arrested and charged in connection with the assault, which could see him fined and jailed for a year.

Authorities also demolished his home after it was “found to be illegally constructed”, police officer Ravinder Verma said. Local media showed a bulldozer clawing apart the roof and walls of Shukhla’s home in Madhya Pradesh state.

India counts more than 100 million people as belonging to its diverse indigenous tribal communities, collectively known as Adivasis.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2023