‘My friends asked me to attack them, I was drunk’: Man accused of beating Muslim boy to death on train

A 15-year-old Junaid Khan on his way home in a train destined for Mathura, with his elder brother Hashim and two friends was stabbed to death by “a group of 10-12 men between 7-8 pm”.
“I was drunk. My friends told me to attack them because they are cow eaters.”

This is what a man accused of killing a 16-year-old Muslim boy and injuring his three brothers on board a Mathura-bound train has told police.

The accused was part of a mob that attacked the four brothers, who were on their way back home to Haryana’s Ballabhgarh after Eid shopping at Sadar Bazar on Thursday evening.

After the train crossed Okhla, an argument broke out over seats that quickly turned communal as the mob repeatedly called the brothers “anti-nationals” and “beef eaters”, threw their skull caps on the floor and taunted them with terms such as “mulla” before stabbing them repeatedly.

In a report by Indian Express, the 23-year-old Shaqir, who is admitted to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, New Delhi alleged that the accused were taunting Junaid and others over their clothes and also made reference to “beef eating.”

Shaqir recollected the memories of the event and told Indian Express, “They flung our skull caps, pulled my brother’s beard, slapped us, and taunted us about eating cow meat. Beef is not even cooked in our village. Once we reached Ballabhgarh, they took out knives. They were older than us — probably in their 30s — so we couldn’t do anything.” He added that the then started stabbing Junaid, Hashim and him.

Shaqir suffered five stab wound including one on his chest. His elder brother Ismail is with him in the hospital while the family including is at home.

Ismail said,”Hashim told me the men threw them off the train at Asaoti station. Some people there called an ambulance and they were then taken to a hospital in Palwal.”