19-Year-Old Beaten to Death Over Alleged Sacrilege at Punjab's Gurdwara

Chandigarh: In a shocking incident, a 19-year-old boy was beaten to death on Saturday after he allegedly tore pages of the holy book of Sikhs 'Guru Granth Sahib,' at a Gurudwara in Punjab's Ferzoabad, as per media reports. 

The Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sukhwinder Singh said that a man named Bakshish Singh committed the alleged sacrilege at the Gurudwara after which an angry crowd caught and thrashed him. Police then registered a case against the man for the alleged sacrilege.

“We received information from Ferozepur’s Bandala village that a person has committed a sacrilege at Gurdwara Baba Bir Singh. Police reached the spot and found that some people thrashed the man who committed a sacrilege. A case has been registered against the person. The situation is under control and the accused has been admitted to the hospital,” Singh told ANI.

A video earlier circulated on social media showed a group of men trying to stop a man from running away after committing sacrilege. The man was bleeding and was rushed to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

However, defending his son, Bakshish's father Lakhwinder Singh claimed that he was mentally ill and had been on medication for the last two years, urging police to register a case against those who killed his son.

Raghbir Singh of Akal Takht Jathedar Giani said that Bakshish's death was a result of failure of law to stop sacrilege incidents and the demise was a reaction to failing to punish culprits.

(With ANI inputs)