Latur Road Rage: Family Alleges Hate Crime After Five Men In Car Chase And Run Them Over

In a shocking incident reported from Latur district of Maharashtra, a family was chased by 5 men in car before it ran them over. This incident led to death of 2 people including a minor.

According to the police, the family was bike-borne, a man was riding the bike along with his wife and two children. While the man and his son survived the accident with injuries, his wife and daughter got killed. His son is 6-year-old and daughter was three-year-old.

The family was reportedly chased for 5 km and the incident occurred on evening of September 29.

The victim identified as Sadique Shaikh, told police that the men used religious slurs before knocking them down. Latur Police has booked the five accused men in connection with murder.

Latur SP Somay Mundhe told The Indian Express, that they have charged the five men with murder. At this time, it appears to be a case of road rage.

“The incident occurred on September 29 evening, when Shaikh, 35-year-old along with his wife Iqra (24), their six-year-old son Ahad, and three-year-old daughter Nadia, were returning after visiting his sister in Ausa, 20 kilometers from Latur,” added the police.

The FIR was filed with Latur Police around 8 pm, the police officer said, “A car abruptly swerved in front of their motorcycle on the outskirts of Ausa. Shaikh confronted the car’s occupants, whom he believed were intoxicated. Following a brief argument, he continued riding. However, the car pursued them and knocked them down near Budhada village.”

The family lawyer informed that “Sadique recounted the argument with the car’s occupants. He said that because his wife was wearing a burqa, they hurled religious slurs and insisted that Muslims needed to be taught a lesson. While he said that he moved from the place on the insistence of his wife, the men followed them for around five kilometres and hit the bike hard,” as reported by the Indian Express. According to the reports, religious slur is not mentioned in FIR.

The accused were identified as Digambhar Pandole, Krishna Wagh, Basvaraj Dhotre, Manoj Mane and Mudame. They were reportedly nabbed by the local residents after the incident.

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