First the Dadri lynchings and now this. Do we need more proof that this beef ban is bringing out the very worst in people? Yesterday, Ikram Khan, a resident of Mewat was sentenced to death by a local court for murdering his seven-year-old daughter, in February last year.
Ikram Khan was charged with killing the girl because he wanted to frame the village sarpanch and his associates in the case because they had penalised him for violating the panchayat’s beef sale ban, said a TOI report.
The case dates back to February 15, 2014 when Ikram and his men clashed with village sarpanch Khursheed Ahmed and his men over selling of beef in Manota village.
According to investigations by the crime branch, Ikram had continued to slaughter cows and sell beef in the village despite a panchayat resolution against it. Cops told the court it was established that when Ikram did not budge despite warnings, the villagers slapped a penalty on him and announced a social boycott. They had also slapped a case against him.
Khursheed and his men then surrounded his shop in protest. Ikram along with his brothers, Imran and Irfan, however, confronted them and pelted stones. The police told the court that in the clash, Ikram murdered his youngest daughter by slitting her throat and accused Khursheed of having committed the crime. The officials then booked Khursheed for murder and Ikram for slaughtering cows.
Around 15 men from both the sides were injured in the clash and seven-year-old Saiba was badly injured who later succumbed to injuries caused by sharp-edged weapons. In his statement to the police, Ikram accused Khursheed, Nasru, Hakkrudin and others of attacking him with sharp-edged weapons and murdering his daughter.
However, during investigations, police said, Ikram confessed to the murder which was corroborated with weapons recovered from the spot.
“The convict killed an innocent child who was to seek protection from her father. …The murder was committed with a pre-meditated mind and in an inhuman and barbaric manner,” observed the Mewat district and sessions judge, M M Dhonchak.
The judge has stated in his judgment that during the arguments on quantum of sentence, Ikram lost his cool and abused the chair.
