At a gurdwara in Ferozepur, Punjab, on Saturday, a 19-year-old man was beaten to death after it was reported that he had torn many pages from the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikhs’ sacred book.
After Bakshish Singh allegedly committed the sacrilege at Gurdwara Baba Bir Singh in Bandala village, he was apprehended and severely beaten by an enraged mob, according to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sukhwinder Singh.
The man is the subject of a police report over the alleged sacrilege.
According to his father Lakhwinder Singh, he was mentally challenged and had been taking medication for two years. He also called on the police to file a complaint against the people responsible for his son’s death.
Bakshish, according to the residents, has never before visited the gurdwara.
After perpetrating the sacrilege, the accused apparently tried to flee but was apprehended by onlookers. Villagers gathered at the gurdwara and beat him as word of the purported incident spread.
A video posted on the website depicted Bakshish sitting with his hands tied and bleeding, surrounded by a group of men. The Punjab Police later took him to a private hospital, but he had died by then.
The situation is now under control, said DSP Singh.
Bakshish’s killing, according to Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh, was a response to the law’s inability to hold those responsible for sacrilege accountable.
The Sikh community was also urged by the Jathedar of the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, to socially and religiously shun his family and prevent his final rites from being performed at any gurdwara. He said people are forced to seek justice on their own when the rule of law “fails miserably in performing its duty”.
