A 47-year-old Muslim vendor was brutally hacked to death with an axe in the Purulia district of West Bengal, India, sparking serious allegations of communal hate from the victim's family, though local police have disputed the motive.
The deceased, Akbar Mandal, was killed on June 9 in Supurdihi village, located in the historically volatile 'Junglemahal' region.
According to his 20-year-old son, Zulfikar, the brutal murder has left their family and their home village of Punishol, in the neighboring Bankura district, completely devastated.
Zulfikar recounted that his father was selling steel utensils from his van on the morning of June 9 when he was suddenly dragged inside a local house. An unfamiliar man then launched a violent assault on him.
"The man first beat my father with a stick. When my father tried to defend himself, he was struck with an axe," Zulfikar said, later discovering that his father had also been stabbed with a knife.
Zulfikar, who also works as a vendor in the Bandoan area of Purulia after being forced to drop out of school due to poverty, received the news by phone from the authorities around noon.
"I went to the hospital and saw my father's body. His head was completely crushed. It was a horrific sight. His entire body was soaked in blood. The doctors told me Akbar Mandal had died long before he was brought to the hospital," Zulfikar told The Wire on June 10 while transporting his father's body home.
The victim's family and fellow villagers firmly believe the attack was fueled by growing religious intolerance.
Akbar's wife Nazima Bibi, his daughter Jummatun Khatun, and local residents noted that Akbar regularly traveled a familiar route and was well-known to the locals, leading them to believe people purposefully ignored his cries for help.
Zulfikar explicitly linked the murder to a broader environment of intimidation. "Just because we have beards, some people would force us to chant 'Jai Shree Ram.' They used to tell us that we would no longer be allowed to vend our goods here. An atmosphere of fear has been created since the BJP came to power. We always work and live in constant panic," he said, demanding a fair investigation and exemplary punishment for the perpetrators.
Khelafat Hossain Mandal, an elderly resident of Punishol village, echoed these fears, stating that while villagers had vended in the area for 14 years without trouble, "attacks on Muslims have increased since the BJP came to power. Most people in Punishol are poor and working-class. We always leave for work with deep anxiety."
The local administration has downplayed the communal angle.
Purulia Superintendent of Police (SP) Vaibhav Tiwari confirmed that the accused, identified as Bishwanath Mahato, was arrested after the murder was verified to have taken place inside Mahato's residence.
"We are still not sure why the murder happened. It might have stemmed from a quarrel," SP Tiwari stated on June 10. He added, "So far, no evidence of religious or communal hatred has been found behind this incident."
Source: The Wire
