'Population explosion' is real cause of lynchings, claims Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje

Amid outrage over the recent spate of mob murders, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has claimed that the ‘population explosion’ is the actual cause behind lynchings.

In an interview to a news channel, Raje said that Rajasthan was not alone and that lynching was happening everywhere. She blamed ‘population explosion’ and said that, ‘People wanting jobs...people are frustrated that they are not being able to get jobs. There is angst which is spreading across communities and people. That’s happening everywhere, not just in Rajasthan. It’s not something that is coming out of the state. It’s coming out of the people’s anger...reaction to their circumstances.’

The comments come in the wake of the Alwar lynching incident where a resident of Haryana was beaten by some villagers over suspicion of cow smuggling. On July 21st, Rakbar Khan and his friend Aslam were taking cows to their villages in Haryana through a forest area in Alwar's Ramgarh, where they were caught by a group of people. While Aslam managed to flee, Rakbar was allegedly thrashed brutally by the group.

According to the post-mortem report, the victim died of shock caused by his injuries. The autopsy further stated that the 28-year-old victim suffered 13 injuries in total, including eight bruises, two abrasions, a laceration, a fracture in wrist and another in left femur.

Media reports stated that Alwar police took three hours to get the victim to a hospital which was only 6 km away. Under fire for a delay in taking Khan to the hospital, the Rajasthan Police set up a four-member committee to probe the allegations.

An assistant sub-inspector of police has been suspended and three constables sent to the police lines after reports that they had delayed taking him to hospital.

The government has also constituted a panel headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh to formulate appropriate measures and submit a report to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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