Maharashtra Government Agrees to Pay Rs 5 Lakh Compensation for Cow Vigilante Victim

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has informed the Bombay High Court that it will provide Rs five lakh in compensation to the widow of Afan Ansari, who was allegedly lynched by cow vigilantes in June 2023. The government also assured the court that the case would be transferred to a fast-track court to ensure an expedited trial.

Arfan’s wife Afroz Ansari (24) had moved the court last year seeking the implementation of the Supreme Court’s 2018 Tehseen Poonawalla judgment, which issued guidelines to prevent and punish mob lynching. Afroz also urged the court to shift the case from the Nashik Sessions Court to a fast-track court and demanded Rs one crore as compensation.

Prosecutor Prajakta Shinde informed the court about a January2022 notification to amend the Maharashtra Victim Compensation Scheme, 2014. The amendments include provisions for compensation to victims or their dependents who have suffered loss or injury as a result of crime and are in need of rehabilitation.

The prosecutor submitted that a final compensation amount of Rs five lakh has been sanctioned for the victim, Afroz, and the funds will be transferred once a bank account is opened. The court was also informed that steps have been initiated to transfer the relevant case to a fast-track court, and assured that if the transfer has not yet taken place, it will be completed within three weeks.

Taking note of the state’s assurances, Justice Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Sandesh Patil, as they disposed of the petition.

Afroz and Afan were married in 2013 and have two daughters, aged eight and five. The family currently resides in a rented apartment in Kurla area of Mumbai along with Afan’s elderly parents.

According to Afroz’s petition, on June 24, 2023, Afan (32) and his associate Nasir Qureshi (24) were returning to Mumbai from Ahmednagar after purchasing meat when they were allegedly attacked near the Samruddhi Expressway. A group of approximately 14 to 15 individuals, reportedly travelling on motorcycles and in a jeep, intercepted their vehicle. The assailants allegedly dragged the two men out of their vehicle, tied them up, and assaulted them with sticks and iron rods. They were also reportedly forced to chant religious slogans, and their valuables and mobile phones were stolen.

Police arrived at the scene around 9:30 PM and transported the victims to a hospital in Nashik, where Afan was declared dead on arrival.

A chargesheet in the case was filed before a magistrate in Igatpuri in September 2023. The case was later committed to the Nashik sessions court in November. However, trial proceedings have yet to commence.