Man accused of molesting a minor girl beaten to death by crowd in Hyderabad

A 50-year-old man accused of molesting a minor girl was beaten to death by a crowd in the city’s Jiyaguda locality on Thursday, July 16, a killing that his family says was compounded by hours of police inaction and which a local political party has demanded be investigated.

The man, Abdul Aziz, lived with his mother, Ghausia Bi, in a two-bedroom flat within the limits of the Kulsumpura Police Station. 

According to the police, he was assaulted at around 7 pm after closed circuit television (CCTV) camera footage surfaced showing him allegedly molesting the girl while dropping her home. The footage triggered public outrage, which in turn led to the attack.

By his mother’s account,



Aziz had dropped the girl home and was asleep inside the flat when the crowd arrived. “My son had dropped the girl home and was sleeping inside the house when 50 people, including women, barged in and pulled Aziz out before beating him mercilessly,” Ghausia Bi told reporters. One woman, she alleged, struck her son with a broom and threatened her. She insisted Aziz had no enmity with anyone.

What she described next was not just a mob attack but also custodial neglect. Ghausia Bi said her injured son was taken to the Kulsumpura Police Station and held there for two hours. “My son was made to sit in the police station for two hours, where he fainted twice due to his injuries, but the police did not provide any medical attention,” she said.