“My Saddam didn’t die a natural death; if he had, I would have found peace. But I feel no peace,” said the ailing mother of Saddam Qureshi (23) while speaking to FoEJ Media.
Saddam Qureshi (23) along with his two companions was traveling via private truck loaded with buffaloes when he encountered mob lynching. The mob persuaded them for approximately 54 km, assaulted them, killed two of Saddam’s companions on the spot, on June 7, 2024, and gravely injured Saddam. Twenty-three-year-old Saddam eventually succumbed to his injuries on June 18,2024.
Saddam left behind a heartbroken mother, a devastated father, and two grief-stricken sisters. The incident blurred the lives of Saddam’s family, with sadness running all across their bodies.
“My young son, my young son was killed,” Saddam’s father said with eyes full of tears.
His two sisters were sitting near their father when FoEJ Media met them; they did not utter a word, but their faces spoke of sadness that no words can explain.
After a few hours, Saddam’s sister Sabeena, said, “They killed my brother so brutally, they didn’t even give him water, he died thirsty.”
A video of Saddam Qureshi made the rounds on the internet, where he reportedly narrated the horrific ordeal of his mob lynching. Meanwhile, his family watched the visuals and got cognizance of the heinous crime. Referring to the video, Sabeena said, “The videos showed my brother’s pain; he died innocent.”
Saddam was the sole breadwinner of the family, and his death took away the ease of four people.
“Our brother is gone, no one saved him, he left, he was killed,” Rubina, the other sister of Saddam said , bursting into tears.
In recent years, there has been a notable increase in mob lynching incidents, leading to the deaths of numerous innocent individuals, predominantly from the Muslim community. Saddam Qureshi was one of the victims of such violence.
The word mob lynching was first brought to notice and prominently covered by the media by the lynching of 52 year old Mohammad Akhlaq, 2015. He was dragged by a mob out of his home in Bishara, a village near the city of Dadri in state of Uttar Pradesh, accusing of eating beef, and was lynched brutally.
Ever since then, several families have been shattered by the mob lynching. According to a report by the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS), India witnessed 13 incidents of mob lynching in 2024, claiming 11 lives — including nine Muslims, one Hindu, and one Christian. Although the numbers reflect a drop from 21 cases reported in 2023, the persistence of such violence remains deeply troubling. The CSSS report offers an in-depth examination of mob lynching and communal riots recorded during the year, highlighting them as stark indicators of the continuing presence of communal tensions across the country.
The cases of mob lyching quite often make headlines in newspapers, but what is left behind is grieving families, like that of Saddam Qureshi. The lynching of saddam created a painful mark on the heart of Saddam’s mother,
“My heart is filled with pain all the time. I can’t sleep at night, and I don’t feel hungry,” she said.
“There was no mercy in the hearts of the oppressors; they took my Saddam’s life without thinking twice,” she added.
Referring to the chargesheet that stated the deceased jumped from a bridge in fear, asserting that the accused did not physically assault Saddam and his companions, Saddam’s mother said, “I did not receive justice.”
The Chargesheet
A month after the mob lynching incident, the police have stated in their chargesheet that the deceased jumped from a bridge in fear, asserting that the accused did not physically assault them. Filed on July 8, the charge sheet indicates that the victims were pursued by three cars for a distance of at least 54 kilometers before they jumped.
Meanwhile, the lawyer representing the deceased claimed that the chargesheet is totally misleading and they will approach the court and demand that a First Information Report (FIR) should be registered under sections of murder as the deceased were mercilessly beaten for hours before they were thrown from the bridge.
The lawyer of the accused, Brajesh Pandey, claimed that his client was innocent, and it was an accident. “It was an accident, nothing more than that. My clients are innocent,” said Pandey.
Meanwhile, Raipur police lodged an FIR lodged against the accused under sections 307 (punishment for attempt to murder) and 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code.
However, after Saddam succumbed to his injuries in the hospital on June 18, police stated that the postmortem report did not indicate any assault injuries, leading them to drop the attempted murder charges.
As per the police charge sheet, the five accused arrested in the case were Harsh Mishra, Mayank Sharma, Raja Agarwal, Navin Thakur, and Tanay Luniya.
“The accused got the information that a truck with registration number CG 07 CG 3929 was possibly transporting animals illegally. The accused gathered near the Jhalap toll plaza (Mahasamund district) to intercept the vehicle, and when they were moving towards Tumgaon, they spotted the truck. The accused, traveling in three cars—a Swift Dzire with registration number CG 24 M 6433, a Honda City with registration number CG 04 HM 2111, and a BMW—began to chase the truck. The truck driver continued driving with the accused in pursuit, putting pressure on the driver to either stop the truck or speed up. The accused threw spikes and stones at the truck’s windshield in an attempt to stop it. Despite these efforts, the truck did not stop and instead crossed the divider near Kampa and started driving on the wrong side of the road,” the chargesheet said.
In an effort to evade the attackers, the truck driver drove on the wrong side of the road for approximately 14 kilometers, while the assailants pursued him, attempting to stop the truck by throwing spikes and stones.
“This caused one of the truck’s tires to become completely damaged, reducing it to the rim, and then stopped at Mahanadi Bridge, where three individuals in the truck jumped into the river to save their lives,” police said in the chargesheet.
“The actions of the accused, knowing the potentially fatal consequences, fall under the criminal act mentioned in Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). After investigation, a charge sheet numbered 385/2024 was prepared against the accused for committing the offense under sections 304 and 34 of the IPC,” the chargesheet said.
Saddam’s mother further revealed how she was oblivious to his son’s death and thought he would come back home safely, but, to her shock, he came wrapped in a white shroud.
“When I came downstairs, I saw many people. I asked what happened, and they said Saddam is coming home; he will see you, and then we will take him for treatment.” She said while her right hand was continuously shaking.
“But they took him; they took him away forever,” she said after a while and broke into tears.
