Three Muslims have been lynched to death and a fourth left fighting for his life in Assam‘s Nagaon district, in yet another act of mob barbarism that lays bare the terrifying reality facing Muslims in Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s Assam — just two days before the state goes to polls.
The incident took place at No. 1 Kathpara village within the jurisdiction of Ruphihat Police Station in Kalabar co-district. According to Nagaon Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime) Abotani Doley, at around 2 am, a gang of 10 to 12 armed dacoits entered a house, tied up the occupants, took the family’s six-year-old daughter at knifepoint, and looted cash and jewellery.
As the gang fled, the family raised an alarm, which poured the neighbours out. A crowd chased and apprehended four of the suspected dacoits, who were then badly beaten before police could reach the scene.
Two of the men died at the spot, and a third succumbed to his injuries after being rushed to Nagaon Medical College and Hospital. The fourth remains in a critical condition.
The three deceased have been identified as Saifullah, Ajibur alias Khairul, and Enamul Haque. All three were Muslim. The identity of the surviving fourth victim has not yet been officially confirmed by police.
Nagaon: A District Soaked in Muslim Blood
This is not the first time Nagaon has seen Muslim lives extinguished by mob violence, and it will not be the last if the state’s political culture remains unchanged.
Mob lynchings over cow vigilante accusations or theft suspicions in Assam have a documented history, with cases in Nagaon as far back as 2017 and in Morigaon in 2023.
Nagaon is also the very district where, in 1983, the horrific Nellie massacre claimed the lives of thousands of Bengali Muslim men, women and children — a crime for which nobody has ever been meaningfully punished.
This story was originally published in theobserverpost.com. Read the full story here.