Tabrez Ansari lynching case: Jharkhand Court sentences 10 accused to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment

Jharkhand court in Seraikela-Kharswa on Wednesday sentenced ten convicts to ten years in prison in the 2019 Tabrez Ansari mob lynching case.

The convicts were sentenced to imprisonment under Section 304 (murder not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), reports said. There were 13 accused in the case and two were acquitted by the court for lack of evidence, with one person dying during the trial.

On June 27, the Court of First Instance convicted the defendants in the case.

Tabrez Ansari was beaten to death by a mob in a Jharkhand village for allegedly stealing a motorcycle and was caught by villagers who beat him up in Seraikela-Kharsawa district on 17 June 2019.

According to media reports, Ansari was working as a laborer and welder in Pune and had come to meet his family to celebrate Eid when he was killed by a mob on suspicion of bike theft.

The case attracted a lot of attention after a clip showed Ansari allegedly being forced to chant "Jai Shri Ram" and "Jai Hanuman" and being tied to a tree and brutally beaten by a mob. The incident also created huge political outrage and drew sharp political reactions from leaders of various political parties.

Reports said that the villagers handed him over to the police and he was arrested in the case. He later fell ill and died during treatment after being sent to hospital.

Following the incident, Ansari's wife registered a case of murder against one Prakash Mandal and other unidentified persons. Later, the police added the names of 12 more accused.

In another twist in the case, the police filed a chargesheet under Section 304 IPC and withdrew the charge under Section 302 (IPC) saying that according to the reports and evidence received, it was not a case of premeditated murder, hence Section 302 was converted into Section 304 IPC. However, the police filed a supplementary charge sheet which brought back charges under Section 302 of the IPC.