Rajasthan lynching: thousands attend victim's funeral

Thousands gathered at Saiydpur village in West Bengal's Malda district on  Saturday for the funeral of 50-year-old construction labourer Mohd Afrajul, who was brutally hacked and burnt to death in Rajasthan.

Hundreds more took out huge rallies in Malda as well as in the metropolis on Saturday evening to protest the "love jihad" killing.

Afrajul's body had arrived in a wooden casket from Rajasthan by road to his native place  on Friday evening, which is around 300 km from here.

A huge contingent of police personnel led by the district police superintendent and the district magistrate were posted in and around the village to ensure that there was no untoward incident.

The body was first taken to the local mosque in the village and kept there for people and other villagers, including friends and relatives to pay their last respects and that prayers could be said before Afrajul's burial.

"The incident has shaken the people out here so much that they have simply gone numb. The gruesome killing has sent shock waves across the region. People have forgotten to even react, leave alone express their anger. They just want justice. It is not that we have lost a family member, but the way he was killed and words said by the murderer while committing the heinous act and recorded in the video, that needs to be addressed and taken into account by the law enforcing agencies. We want justice," a family member of Afrajul said on Saturday.

Leaders of Trinamool Congress, the Left Front and Congress, all went to the dead labourer's house  on Saturday afternoon to express solidarity with the family.

The West Bengal government has already announced financial help for the family and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said one person from the family will be offered a government job.

Later in the evening, Trinamool Congress took out a huge protest rally in Malda town, which was led state Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim.

The accused, identified as Shambhulal Regar, a resident of Raj Nagar, has been arrested. The video of the gruesome incident was shot by Regar's nephew and had gone viral on social media.