Riyaz and Ghous Mohammad, the Islamists who had brutally beheaded a poor Hindu man Kanhaiya Lal and gloated about it, hailing themselves as warriors of Islam, are now languishing in jail. The duo, who had made a video gloating about their heinous act, basking in false bravado over killing a hapless poor man inside his shop are now facing the realities of the world.
As per a report in Bhaskar, Riyaz and Ghous Mohammad are confined inside a high-security prison in Rajasthan, along with 7 other accused in the Kanhaiya Lal murder case. The report says that no family members visit the two murderers and they are given biographies of great persons to read.
Jail superintendent Paris Jangid has told Bhaskar that the murderers are given books to read. Since Riyaz is illiterate, another inmate reads the books to him.
All the 9 accused in the Kanhaiya Lal murder case have been kept inside dark solitary cells. They are only allowed to come outside of their cells for 1 hour every day, for cleaning themselves and having breakfast.
Family members don’t visit them
The report further says that no family members have come to visit the 2 murderers so far, though all inmates are allowed to meet visitors on Sundays and Wednesdays. Only NIA officers come to interrogate them. The jail authorities have stated that while the other 7 accused have expressed regret for their actions, Riyaz and Ghous Mohammad haven’t spoken about remorse yet.
Riyaz and Ghous Mohammad were shifted to Ajmer’s High-Security prison on 16 September 2022 after over 96 hours of interrogation by the NIA. Riyaz had reportedly wept before NIA interrogators asking to meet his wife once and had asked why his family members are not coming to see him.
How media tries to ‘humanise’ hard-core criminals and terrorists
It is notable here that remorse, family poverty, and other tropes of familiarity are often used by media and activists to humanise hardcore criminals and even terrorists. Indian media, in particular, had done it quite often. Islamic terrorist Burhan Wani was the headmaster’s son, Hizbul commander Riyaz Naikoo was the ‘popular teacher’, Zakir Musa was the ‘lover of sports bikes who was slapped once by an Army man’ and so on.
Even Adil Ahmed Dar, the Pulwama bomber who was responsible for killing 40 CRPF personnel and had made a video about how he wanted to kill ‘cow urine drinkers’ in the name of Allah, was reported as someone who turned radical after being slapped by the Army when he was a boy.
The brutal murder of Kanhaiya Lal
Islamists Riyaz and Ghous Mohammad had come to Kanhaiya Lal’s tailor shop posing as customers. As the tailor was taking their measurements, they took out their heavy meat cleavers and brutally hacked him to death, while making a video of the incident. Kanhaiya Lal’s body had over 30 wounds. Kanhaiya Lal’s ‘fault’ was that a post supporting the statement of ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma was shared from his phone.
After brutally murdering Kahaiya Lal, Riyaz and Ghous had made a chilling video, brandishing their blood-stained weapons and gloating about the heinous act. They had asserted the Islamist slogan “Gustakh-e-Nabi ki ek hi saza, Sar tan se juda” and had boasted that they had killed the man for the sake of Islam.
The brutal act of murder was supported and even hailed by some of the custodians (Chishtis) of Ajmer Dargah. Despite the brutality and wanton display of Islamic terrorism involved in the act, many media outlets had tried their best to tone it down, and had even shared reports of the news as ‘just another crime’.