Police in Maharashtra’s Sharashiv district arrested two men after a Muslim teenager was allegedly beaten to death on Nov.3. The family says the attackers suspected him of harassing a Hindu girl.
Sameer Jabbar Patel, 18, studied B Com at Tuljabhawani Mahavidyalaya in Tuljapur. Santosh Kadam, a former Maharashtra corporator and Tuljapur municipal council president, first targeted him three months earlier. Kadam accused Sameer of stalking and harassing his niece. He called Sameer and his family to his house and warned them to stay away from the girl. Kadam reportedly assaulted Sameer and let the family go with a warning.
After the meeting, Sameer stopped attending college. He took a job at a bakery and continued to prepare for his exams.According to the FIR filed by the family, Sameer went to pick up his uncle on Nov. 3. Within hours, relatives learned someone had taken him to Kadam’s house. His mother, Ansar, went there. She says Kadam and his brother-in-law, Sanjay Vilas Jadhav, assaulted her son. They also abused and threatened her. Kadam called other men to the house. He later took Sameer and his cousin Arbaz Sayyed away with them.
The FIR names Pranav Devkate. It says he snatched Ansar’s mobile phone and detained the family for hours. They left around 11:30 pm. The family alleges the attackers hit Sameer with bamboo and belts until he died.
“He was my only son and the accused took him away in front of us,” Ansar said.