RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, Feb.14: The Prevention of Mob Violence and Mob Lynching Bill, 2021 boomeranged on JMM-led Hemant Soren government.
This was reflected after the main opposition party of Jharkhand, BJP, which had taken the bill as a step of the state government to appease the minority, has started using the bill to corner the ruling party on the issue of mob lynching.
During the last one month, the party has not only raised the issue before the governor of the state, Ramesh Bais, but also before the speakers in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Apart from this, the party has also expressed its solidarity with those protesting against mob lynching in the state.
On January 4, a 32-year-old man, Sanju Pradhan was stoned to death, and his body was set on fire by a group of people at a village in Jharkhand’s Simdega district on the suspicion that he felled trees to steal wood.
On January 12, in Kudpani village in ThethaiTangar police station area in Simdega, a man identified as Flurence held another woman Jhariyo responsible for the death of his wife and branded her as a witch. Flurence along with his friends set Jhario afire.
On February 7, in Hazaribagh, a 17-year-old boy Rupesh Kumar Pandey was lynched by a mob following a dispute during the progress of immersion procession in Dulmaha village under Barhi subdivision.
Though the state police handled all the cases with an iron hand and arrested all those in illegal using existing laws, the BJP is trying tooth and nail to use all the incidents as a weapon to attack the state government and to expose that mob lynching is not confined to a particular community.
On February 16, a BJP leader, Kapil Mishra, is also expected to reach Hazaribagh to meet the family members of Pandey.
The Prevention of Mob Violence and Mob Lynching Bill, 2021, was passed by a voice vote despite opposition by the BJP during the winter session in December last year. Jharkhand became the third state in the country after West Bengal and Rajasthan to pass such legislation.
The Bill envisages imprisonment for those pronounced guilty of mob violence and lynching for periods ranging from three years to life term, besides fine and attachment of property. Those held responsible for sharing information in an irresponsible manner will also be punished.
It provides for fine and imprisonment of up to three years for those creating a “hostile environment”, the definition of which includes threatening or coercing the victims, their family members and witnesses or any person providing assistance to them. It also envisages financial compensation to the victim’s family and free medical treatment of victims of mob violence and mob lynching.
