The family of 22-year-old Ram Gopal Mishra who was killed by a Muslim mob in Bahraich of Uttar Pradesh met Chief Minister Yogi Adityantha in Lucknow on 15th October. The family expressed, “We want an encounter of the perpetrators. We don’t want anything else from the chief minister,” while talking to Aaj Tak before the meeting.
Roli Mishra, his widow stated that they should die in the same manner her husband did. The two were married only two months before he was tortured and murdered by Abdul Hameed, his two sons Sarfaraz and Faheem and Sahir Khan, among others on 13th October during a visarjan procession of the idol of Goddess Durga.
#WATCH | Family members of the deceased of the Bahraich incident meet Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, in Lucknow. pic.twitter.com/wwhZQMmO0R
— ANI (@ANI) October 15, 2024
“We don’t know if CM Yogi will give justice or not until we go to meet him,” the family members mentioned in reply to a query about their faith in justice served by CM Yogi. They then reiterated, “We want blood for blood.” Roli Mishra highlighted, “We are not satisfied with the action taken by the police,” when asked whether they were satisfied with the response of the authorities.
“We will not be satisfied until those people are punished and their blood is shed like his. We will go to meet the chief minister and see. My husband will be at peace only after the culprits are punished. We will also get peace then. We don’t want anything else,” she voiced.
While sitting in the car, a family member stated that they should get justice. He unveiled, “I saw his condition. No one else including the police was with me at that time. The cops were completely inept.” The person further blamed them and stated that the unfortunate instance would have been averted if the cops and station officer (SO) weren’t so negligent. “Nothing would have happened if there was no lathi-charge by the cops. Action should be taken. We are not satisfied with their (accused) arrest. We want encounter,” the individual stressed. Police resorted to lathi-charge the Hindu devotees who retaliated after the Muslims started to pelt stones on the procession from Abdul Hameed’s house.
Earlier, Ram Gopal’s grieving mother cried, “My son is gone. What will we do now? All we want is justice. They (the killers) should be punished the way my son was killed.” He was the youngest of three brothers and one of them had already died a few years ago. His brother Harimilan Mishra declared that he would meet CM Yogi and tell him the entire story. He stated, “What happened, how it happened and what is our demand? At present, we are not happy with the police action. This is the result of the negligence of the policemen. I was present there when the murder happened. We want encounter of the culprits.”
Ram Gopal Mishra was a resident of Rehuya Mansur village of Hardi police station area of Bharaich. He was leading the procession which came under attack while passing through the Muslim-dominated locality of the Maharajganj area. Some Muslim youngsters were standing on the street and initiated an argument under the guise of gulaal (coloured powder used in Hindu rituals and festivals including Holi), raising slogans and playing DJ.
The Muslims then started throwing stones at the devotees and the cops lathi-charged the latter when they responded in the same manner. The action further encouraged the Muslim side and caused a stampede during which bullets were also fired. Ram Gopal’s nails were pulled out and he was brutally tortured before the accused eventually killed him. Stones were thrown and bullets were also fired at the people who carried his corpse which was also hit by a few stones, according to a video.
