In Pune, a teenager was burnt after he accepted that he was a “Hindu”. Savan Rathod (17) died last Friday and his last statement was recorded. As per The Indian Express, this is what the teenager said before dying, “I was working with my family in Pandhapur. I had a dispute with them and came to Pune looking for work…While I was taking a leak, three persons objected and asked me my name. I said Savan Rathod. They asked me if I am Hindu? I said, yes. Then they poured something over me from a can and set me on fire.”
The details which are being disclosed after the death of the teenager are increasing the temperature of the city as it may give rise to the communal tension.
The report suggests that he was finding it difficult to speak and nodded his head in yes when he was asked whether he felt that he was burnt for being a Hindu. His father has also claimed that his son was burnt after being recognized as a Hindu.
The report also says that right wing groups are demanding an investigation by anti-terror squad as they feel that Savan was killed in the manner Islamic terrorists kill a person.
The police custody of three suspects – Imran, Zuber Tamboli and Ibrahim Sheikh has been increased till 25 January. The FIR says that Savan was burnt on January 13 by these three in Kasba Peth.
Banjara Kranti Dal’s lawyer Ramesh Rathod told this to The Indian Express, “When we went to the hospital on Thursday evening… Savan’s situation was bad. So we asked police to record his statement before he dies. But the cops refused, saying he himself was the complainant. So I recorded his dying declaration on my cellphone in the presence of his father and other activists. He did not mention anything about theft. Maybe, police fear that revealing the facts would create communal tensions.”
However, the police is not able to find any communal angle involved in this murder. In the words of DCP Tushar Doshi, “After nabbing Savan, the assailants questioned him for battery theft for a few hours. We confirmed at least two spots where they took Savan, suspecting he had sold stolen batteries here. Then they forcibly made him drink petrol and set him on fire… Savan Rathod’s video at the hospital could be an afterthought as he did not mention anything of a communal nature when FIR was lodged.”