The Chopra incident, where a man and a woman were beaten up mercilessly, is another incident of mob assault after more such cases were reported in West Bengal over the past few days.
On June 22, a woman from Barasat was assaulted by a mob on the suspicion of being a “child-lifter” in North 24 Parganas. At least 15 people were arrested following the incident. On the same day, a Toto driver got beaten up with suspicion that that he was thief in Jhargram’s Jamboni. He died on Sunday and two persons were arrested.
Last week, in Kolkata, one person named Irshad Alam was lynched at a hostel apprehending that he has lifted a mobile, following which 14 people were arrested. In Saltlake one person was beaten up apprehending that he was thief.
More than five such cases of mob attacks have taken place in different parts of Bengal over the past two weeks. Sources in the administration have told News18 that they have sent guidelines of the Supreme Court and other instructions to look into such incidents very seriously to senior police officers of all districts.
What Supreme Court Guidelines Say on Mob Assault
The police has to immediately lodge an FIR when such incident takes place, the apex court guidelines say. Messages that are circulated instigating such an act should be pulled down from all platforms.
The guidelines say the victim should be informed about the progress of the case. They say all districts should have a nodal officer not below the SP rank who will keep an eye on this.
The state government is also required to compensate the family of the victim in such cases. The court said that the state and Centre should come up with an appropriate law against mob violence.
In West Bengal, one such law has been passed in the Assembly but has been waiting for the Governor’s signature, sources said.
Mob lynching has been covered under the new criminal laws that came into effect on July 1. The new law penalises mob lynching at par with murder. Since IPC did not provide a separate provision for murder by a mob, the accused in such cases were tried and punished under Section 302 (murder).
‘More Campaigns Needed’
Fact check expert Jaydeep Dasgupta told News18, “People’s dependence on social media posts and WhatsApp messages as their primary sources of information often leads to blind trust in the content they receive. Without anyone encouraging them to verify the information, and lacking the habit of exercising critical thinking, many individuals react impulsively. This can result in violent actions, such as mob lynchings, creating severe law and order situations. To combat this, more media literacy campaign is required.”
Politics Over The Incidents
Politics has been on with these incidents on the rise in the state. Speaking to News18, BJP leader Agnimitra Paul said, “Law and order situation is bad, these dadas, they know nothing will happen to them, that is why they are getting more encouragement to do all this.”
On the other hand, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said, “Lynching is a social problem, we don’t support this. If somebody has done something wrong, give them to the police. Why will they do this? This has no relation with politics.”
A more aggressive campaign may help in curbing this menace, but strict punishment for culprits is also required to generate fear among people.
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