Family of lynched Muslim vendor says he died as police denied private hospital treatment
Nalanda/Nawada, (Bihar): As one and a half months passed, the family of late Athar Hussain has many questions unanswered and one among them is – why didn’t the police allow the family to take him to a private hospital for better treatment?
According to Kashmir Media Service, the family members believe that had the police allowed them to take Athar to a private hospital, he would have been alive today.
Sitting at his home in Bihar Sharif in Bihar’s Nalanda district, Athar’s younger brother Muhammad Chand told The Wire, “Treatment was not proper at the Nawada Sadar Hospital. So we wanted to take him to a private hospital. I had talked to the doctor and the doctor agreed.”
He was about to take him to a private hospital but two police constables deputed at the hospital for Athar didn’t agree, added Chand. The constables, he said, “Spoke to the investigating officer (IO) who told me that he can’t be taken to a private hospital as there has been an FIR (first information report) against Athar in Roh police station in Nawada.”
“We even went to the local court to get permission for his transfer to a private hospital. But, IO told the court that his treatment at the Sadar Hospital was satisfactory,” Chand mentioned.
Athar was admitted to Nawada Sadar Hospital on December 6 and on December 11 he was suddenly transferred to a medical complex in Nalanda district.
Chand said that only at midnight Athar was taken to the medical complex by the local police when his condition worsened. “When we went to see him on the morning of December 12, he was breathing from mouth. We somehow took permission from the hospital to take him to a private hospital. We took him in an ambulance and were on the way to a private hospital, but he died in Bihar Sharif town.”
He added that Athar’s condition was a little better when he was admitted at Nawada Sadar Hospital but it worsened as he was not being treated in Sadar Hospital.
Forty-five-year-old Athar, a resident of Gagan Diwan area of Bihar Sharif was a mobile vendor and had been vending clothes on cycle for more than one and half decades. He would travel to nearby areas and often go to Nawada and stay there for a week.
His wife, 40-year-old Shabnam Parveen, told The Wire, “He had left the house on the morning of December 5. He called us after reaching Nawada and told us that he will be back after a week.”
Athar’s in-laws stay in Nawada, so he decided to stay there, as he often used to do.
But, next day, the family came to know that Athar was lynched for being a Muslim in Bhatta village of Nawada, about 50 kilometer away from Bihar Sharif.
Chand said, “A local youth showed me his photo which he got from the police as Athar told police that he is a resident of Gagan Diwan. We immediately rushed to Sadar Hospital where we found him lying on the bed.”
In his video statement before dying, Athar had described the brutality unleashed on him and also said that he was beaten for “being a Muslim”.
Chand narrated that on the evening of December 5, Athar was returning from Bhatta village when his cycle got punctured. “He then asked locals about any cycle repairing shop nearby, when they started beating him.”
At around 11 pm, someone called the police emergency number. Police officials from Roh police station immediately reached the spot and recovered him. He was first taken to a local hospital and then transferred to Nawada Sadar Hospital.
Next day, Shabnam lodged an FIR at Roh police station against ten named accused including Satyanarayan Yadav, and ten to 15 unknown accused.
Police have so far arrested at least ten persons in connection with this case including the main accused Satyanarayan Yadav under various sections of Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) including section 117(4) which deals with hate crime. Satyanarayan Yadav’s family has lodged an FIR against Athar for theft.
