In a disturbing incident, a 32-year-old man named Wasid was beaten and tied to a tree under suspicion of theft in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district on Thursday, with the video of the incident going viral as well as sparking intense outrage among netizens. The local police have registered a case of assault and issued a statement that arrests will be made. Shocking visuals of the man, whom the cops have said is a drug addict, are seen in a video on social media, showing him bound to the trunk of a tree.
As many as a dozen more people can be seen standing or walking around Wasid, who is seen in the video wearing a red t-shirt, with his movements restricted as he is strained to the tree with his wrists tied behind. The onlookers are seen talking and some even laughing while coming up to Wasid to take videos and pictures on their mobiles as he is seen desperately pleading to be helped.
According to the police, Wasid had allegedly been involved in the theft of items from a government office in the locality, but was caught by two guards and then restrained to the tree after being assaulted. After being beaten, he was apprehended to the police, with people he stole from reportedly stating that they had gotten back their belongings. They added that they did not wish to file any charges against him as he was their neighbour, a local police official said. The people who came for Wasid said that he had been beaten and also did not want any charges to be filed, the police added.
In another video, Wasid is found to be in anguish and deep physical pain after the beating he had taken. The video taken inside the police station has him sitting on a wooden bench, with the police later saying he did not sustain any serious injuries. In the video, he can be seen rocking back and forth, while holding onto a cloth to cover the wound on his right knee, with a policeman wearing a face mask looking at him.
Reports state Wasid was released from the police station after reaching a "compromise", but had died an hour or so later. A post-mortem into his death is underway and action will be taken after the results are known, the police said. Below is the video of the incident:
Muslim Man Dies After Being Tied To Tree And Beaten For Hours
Bashid Khan, 32, was lynched by mob on suspicion of theft in Aonla town of #UttarPradesh's #Bareilly.
He was tied to a tree, beaten for hours and later died!
Welcome to #India pic.twitter.com/XULhZVJISK— DOAM (@doamuslims) September 4, 2020
