CJP urges DGP Haryana to act against cow vigilantes in Mewat, Haryana Armed mob abduct men, verbally abuse women for allegedly slaughtering cows

06, May 2022 | CJP Team

After coming across a viral video on social media, Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) has filed a complaint to Haryana’s Director General of Police (DGP) PK Agrawal, urging him to identify each culprit in the video and take action against them for abducting men, verbally abusing women and threatening them by firing a gun in the air in broad daylight.

This is a part of CJP’s ongoing Hate Watch initiative that has multiple dimensions ranging from reporting incidents of hate speech and hate crimes, to filing complaints with relevant authorities, to training activists and lawyers, to creating a band of peace workers and citizens initiatives on the ground.

CJP is dedicated to finding and bringing to light instances of Hate Speech, so that the bigots propagating these venomous ideas can be unmasked and brought to justice. To learn more about our campaign against hate speech, please become a member. To support our initiatives, please donate now!

Brief background of the Mewat case

Two videos surfaced online on YouTube on April 21, 2022, and Twitter on April 26, 2022, where a group of men, wielding sticks and guns, is seen to be dragging two men from their houses through the streets of a village towards a waiting white SUV screaming, “Take him to the [police] chowki.” Warning the women against coming forward to interrupt them, a person yells, “Get away, we will shoot,” and fires his gun in the air. While accusing the man in their “custody” of slaughtering cows, another person claims, “We caught him red handed!”

The videos may be viewed here:

 

 

Just FYI @DGPHaryana https://t.co/v7WBAtJnGa pic.twitter.com/Pd6I6jc8XH

— Alishan Jafri (@alishan_jafri) April 26, 2022

CJP has brought to the DGP’s attention the following legal provisions that should be invoked against the individuals who were part of the mob:

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Section 120A (Criminal Conspiracy)

Section 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs)

Section 308 (Attempt to commit culpable homicide)

Section 321 (Voluntarily causing hurt)

Section 336 (Act endangering life or personal safety of others)

Section 339 (Wrongful restraint)

Section 350 (Criminal force)

Section 351 (Assault)

Section 367 (Kidnapping or abducting in order to subject person to grievous hurt, slavery, etc)

Section 503 (Criminal intimidation)

Arms Act, 1959

3. Licence for acquisition and possession of firearms and ammunition
4. Licence for acquisition and possession of arms of specified description in certain cases
5. Licence for manufacture, sale, etc., of arms and ammunition
6. Prohibition of acquisition or possession, or of manufacture or sale of prohibited arms or prohibited ammunition
7. Power to demand production of licence, etc
8. Punishment for certain offences
9. Punishment for using arms, etc

Information Technology Act, 2000

67. Punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form

In the case of Tehseen Poonawalla vs. UOI &Ors (2018) 9 SCC 501 2016, the Supreme Court had condemned the widespread acts of mob lynching and violence in the country. While prescribing a slew of guidelines to curb such unlawful activities, the Court had observed, “It is our constitutional duty to take a call to protect lives and human rights. There cannot be a right higher than the right to live with dignity and further to be treated with humanness that the law provides. What the law provides may be taken away by lawful means; that is the fundamental concept of law. No one is entitled to shake the said foundation. No citizen can assault the human dignity of another, for such an action would comatose the majesty of law. In a civilized society, it is the fear of law that prevents crimes. Commencing from the legal space of democratic Athens till the legal system of modern societies today, the law makers try to prevent crimes and make the people aware of the same but some persons who develop masterly skill to transgress the law jostle in the streets that eventually leads to an atmosphere which witnesses bloodshed and tears. When the preventive measures face failure, the crime takes place and then there have to be remedial and punitive measures. Steps to be taken at every stage for implementation of law are extremely important. Hence, the guidelines are necessary to be prescribed.”

Accordingly, CJP has urged the DGP Haryana:

1. To immediately investigate, in a time-bound fashion, the acts committed by the accused under the Indian Penal Code, the Arms Act, in order to maintain peace and order and make the investigations public
2. To register an FIR against the accused and ensure that relevant sections of Indian Penal Code, the Arms Act, the Information Technology Act and others are included.
3. To work towards the implementation of the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of Tehseen Poonawalla vs. UOI &Ors (2018) 9 SCC 501 2016.
4. For the Haryana police to closely monitor online and offline intimidation and abuse especially directed against all marginalised sections of Indians, including religious minorities.
5. For the Haryana police to ensure that data on such monitoring is made public digitally and that progress in this case is also visible and made public electronically and digitally.
6. To take any other action as you may deem fit.

The complaint may be read here:

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