CBI to probe death of man forced to sing national anthem amid Delhi riots

The CBI has registered an FIR to probe the death of a 23-year-old man who was seen in a viral video being purportedly assaulted and forced to sing the national anthem during the communal riots in 2020.

The agency has taken over the investigation of the case from the Delhi Police on the directives of the city high court issued on 23 July.

In a video clip that had gone viral on social media, Faizan, along with four other Muslim men, was seen being beaten up by policemen and forced to sing the national anthem and "Vande Mataram," the national song

Faizan's mother Kismatun, in her plea filed in 2020, alleged that police assaulted and illegally detained her son, and denied him critical healthcare due to which he succumbed to injuries on 26 February that year after being released.

Police, in a status report filed in the court in a sealed cover in 2022, had said the process of identifying the guilty personnel was still on.

In March, they had told the court that they were awaiting the forensic analysis of certain video footage from the National Forensic Sciences University in Gujarat.

In his order, Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani noted that actions of Delhi Police were "too little, too late".

"It is extremely important to note that this case presents allegations of gross violation of human rights, inasmuch as the unlawful actions of the policemen, who are yet to be identified, were motivated and driven by religious bigotry and therefore would amount to a 'hate-crime'", he had noted.

Justice Bhambhani said mob-vigilantism and mob violence do not cease to be so merely because these are perpetrated, not by ordinary citizens, but by policemen.

"If anything, the clement of abomination gets aggravated if hate-crime is committed by persons in uniform," he has said.

He said existence of the two sets of video footage showing Faizan alone being encircled and beaten mercilessly by policemen, and the second, which shows several young men, including Faizan, lying in an injured state on a road and being brutally assaulted by policemen, is not disputed.

"Even if it is assumed that Faizan and/or the other young men had sustained some injuries earlier-on during rioting, several policemen present at the spot are clearly seen surrounding, dragging, kicking and striking blows on Faizan and the other young men with batons/lathis; abusing them; and ordering them to sing the National Anthem while they are lying seriously injured and helpless on the roadside," he observed in his order.

The Delhi High Court said perpetrators of the alleged crime are at large even after four years of the incident.

Justice Bhambhani noted that probe so far is not suggestive that it is being conducted with "required promptitude".

"I am allowing the petition. I am transferring the case to CBI," he said.

Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on 24 February, 2020, after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control, leaving at least 53 people dead and around 700 injured.