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Witnesses Say Zafar Khan Was Thrashed By Rajasthan Civic Body Officials, But No 'Injury Marks' Found In Post-Mortem

Rajasthan CM had hinted that Khan wasn't murdered.
JAIPUR, INDIA - DECEMBER 12: Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.
Hindustan Times via Getty Images
JAIPUR, INDIA - DECEMBER 12: Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

Who killed Zafar Khan, the man who sparred with Rajasthan civic body officials allegedly taking pictures of women defecating in the open? Apparently, no one. First, on June 17, a Twitter handle called @igpoliceudaipur tweeted from its account that 'scientific evidence' doesn't indicate murder, as alleged by Khan's family. The same tweet was shared by the Twitter handle of the department of information and public relations, Rajasthan. Consequently Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje shared the government department's tweet, paraphrasing the same content.

And now, India Today has reported that the preliminary autopsy report has identified the cause of death as heart attack.

The post-mortem report states, "In the opinion of Medical Board, tentative cause of death is cardio-respiratory failure. Final cause of death will be given after FSL & HPE report of viscera."

The superintendent of police, Shivraj Meena, told India Today, that Khan died of a heart failure and during the post-mortem, the doctors found 'no such injury mark on Zafar's body which proves that he was murdered'. He also added that the allegations against the accused officials have not been proved and the police are probing the case 'impartially'.

Many Twitter users had pointed out, after Raje's tweet on Khan's death, that the Twitter handle of the IG of Udaipur seems to have been created in June 2017 and the only tweet that it ever sent out was on the 'scientific evidence' that pointed to the fact that Zafar Khan's death was not a murder.

However, several eye-witnesses, including Khan's 17-year-old daughter Sabira told multiple news outlets that the officials started hitting Khan, following which he fell to the ground and a little later, before he could be taken to the hospital, died.

Sabira told The Indian Express that a group of officials came and started chasing women away at 6 in the morning. The unauthorised settlement that Khan lived in has no toilets. She added that some of the women got into an altercation with the officials and the latter pushed some of them. Hearing the commotion, Khan, who had been a vocal protester against the harassment over women who didn't have toilets, rushed out. Saying that 5-6 people hit Khan on his stomach, head and ear, she added, "The men were kicking and punching him. He was all alone. That's when he fell on the ground. Hearing the commotion, our neighbours came to mediate but my father just lay there and cried in pain. He died there."

Witnesses told Hindustan Times that Kamal, a sweeper with the civic body, started hitting Khan first and he even hit his head with a stone.

Civic officials have refuted charges are said, that they were only trying to speak to the women, when Khan came and started hitting Kamal.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.