Karnataka: 18-Year-Old Youth’s Vacation To Grandmother’s Village Turns Into His Death

An 18-year-old Muslim youth, who was brutally assaulted by eight members of the Bajrang Dal in Karnataka’s Bellare, succumbed to his injuries in a Mangaluru hospital on Thursday.

The deceased Masood had gotten into a fight with one of the accused Sudhir over a trivial reason on July 19.

Masood, who was a daily wager in Bangalore had come to his grandmother’s house at Kalanja, Sullia on the occasion of Bakrid.

“Like every day, Masood came home from work in the evening, took rest and went out to take a stroll,” Masood’s friend Ibrahim Shanif told The Cognate.

While buying groceries from a store, Masood bumped into a drunk man Sudhir after which a scuffle broke out between them and they hit each other. The fight ended and Masood came home, according to Shanif.

Sunil and Abhilash, the other accused called Shanif and said that Masood had assaulted Sudhir. They called the duo to Vishnunagara on the pretext of resolving the matter and coming to a settlement.

Shanif and Masood went to Vishnunagar at around 10 PM on July 20. There, a group of eight Bajrang Dal members-Abhilash, Sunil, Sudhir, Shiva, Sadhashiv, Ranjith, Gym Ranjith and Bhaskar-brutally assaulted Masood. Abhilash even hit Masood’s head with a soda bottle.

“They called us saying that they will put an end to the issue. The next day when we went to the site, only two were present there. Later some six of them came and hit Masood badly and broke his head with a soda bottle. I tried my best to save him but they even hit me. If I knew that Masood would be attacked so badly and would die I would have never taken him there. They were known people that is why I took him there,” said Shanif who is the eyewitness to the brutal assault and a complainant in the case.

“They swore on God’s name that they will put an end to the matter, that is why they both went there,” one of Masood’s relatives told The Cognate. “If someone will swear so much who will not believe, so they believed him and went for a settlement,” he added.

The injured duo soon ran away from the spot. The deceased’s brothers and Shanif found Masood lying unconscious near a well at around 2 AM on July 21 after he was hit badly with a soda bottle.

The teenager, a resident of Mogral Puthur in Kerala’s Kasargod was shifted to a hospital in Mangaluru where he succumbed to his injuries.

The teenager’s relative said, “Masood’s vacation to his grandmother’s home, turned into his death. His family is in shock. A mother has lost his young son, what can we say?”

Bellare Police arrested the accused Abhilash, Sunil, Sudhir, Shiva, Sadhashiv, Ranjith, Abhilash, Gym Ranjith and Bhaskar on July 20. They have been booked under IPC sections 143, 147, 323, 324 and 149 and have also been accused of murder (Section 302 of IPC).

The Cognate tried to reach out to the Police but could not talk to them.