Days after the burnt body of a Muslim man was recovered from India's Bihar, a video has now surfaced on social media allegedly depicting the same man being assaulted by a cow vigilantism group.
Mohammad Khaleel Alam Rizvi in his mid-30s was a member of Bihar's ruling party Janata Dal- United (JD-U) and a resident of the Samastipur district. He went missing on 16 February. His body was found burnt and buried on the banks of the Burhi Gandak River two days later.
In the two-minute video, which made the rounds on social media on Tuesday, Rizvi can be seen being questioned by his attackers while being repeatedly caned for not replying satisfactorily. But the faces of the assailants are not visible.
They are heard inquiring about where all the cows are being slaughtered and to reveal others who are involved in slaughtering cows. The victim is also asked to reveal how much beef he's ever consumed.
The video was allegedly posted first on Instagram and later on other social media platforms.
WARNING! The following video may offend sensibilities.
On Tuesday, the leader of the opposition in the Bihar legislative assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, tweeted a Hindi news clipping lambasting State Chief Nitish Kumar over the incident saying:
"Law and order has completely disappeared under Bihar's National Democratic Alliance government. A Muslim youth, who was himself a leader of Janata Dal-United (JD-U) was beaten, burnt alive, and buried", he tweeted in Hindi.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Yadav also asked the state chief to explain why such incidents continue to occur in Bihar. "Why are people taking the law into their own hands?"
The government of Bihar is led by NDA alliance partners JD-U and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). RJD is the main opposition party in the state.
According to media reports, police initially said that Rizvi was killed over a financial dispute and the video clip is actually meant to divert the matter. But now the case is also being probed from the angle of killing over beef consumption.