"Those who brutally assaulted my son should get punishment. And it is the duty of the government to punish the culprits," said the elderly father sitting beside the ailing son.

IndiaTomorrow.net,

Mewat (Haryana), April 12: In his seventies, Mohammad Suleman is pinning hope in the government to ensure justice for his elder son who was brutally assaulted by a gang of self-proclaimed Gau Rakshaks (cow protectors) in Alwar district of Rajasthan earlier this month.

Sitting beside the bed of his son Azmat, Suleman prays Allah to save his son whose condition is serious. Azmat, in his twenties, was hit in head, eye, chest, waist and backbone.

"I pray Allah to save my son. He is nearing death, you can see," Suleman tells visitors who ranging from common people to community leaders have been coming to his home in Haryana for the past one week.

"We have spent around Rs 70,000 on his treatment," says pointing towards Azmat who is lying on the bed with broken backbone. "He had purchased cows with RS 80,000-90,000," he says when asked about his demand from the government.

But more emphatically, he wants punishment for the attackers.

"Those who brutally assaulted my son should get punishment. And it is the duty of the government to punish the culprits," said the elderly father sitting beside the ailing son.

Azmat was among five Muslim dairy farmers from Haryana who were brutally assaulted by cow vigilantes in Alwar on 1^st April when they were returning from Jaipur cattle fare. They had purchased some cows and calves from the government-run fare and had got valid purchase documents.

When they were stopped by a gang of cow vigilantes, they showed the documents, but the attackers didn't heed and pounced on them. They were assaulted so mercilessly that one of them Pahlu Khan, 55, succumbed to injures at hospital two days later.

Narrating the incident, Azmat says: "We told them we have valid documents of the cattle. But they didn't heed. We asked them to verify the documents from police. But they didn't hear. They were 8-10 in the beginning. They continued assaulting us for 10-15 minutes."

"I fainted and don't know how many more people joined them. Pahlu Khan was being beaten on the other side of the road," recounts Azmat.

"After assaulting us, they put all five of us together on the roadside. I heard they were asking for diesel to set us ablaze. But police arrived and took us to hospital."

Azmat, whose condition is not good, wants justice.

"We want justice. Those who assaulted us must be given punishment fast. I got wounds in head, eye, chest, waist and backbone," he says.

Besides Pahlu Khan and Azmat, two sons of Pahlu Khan were also assaulted by the cow lynching mob.

Irshad, elder son of Pahlu Khan narrates the incident: "We were stopped by some bikers while returning from cattle fare in Jaipur. We showed them receipts of cow purchase, but they began assaulting us. They asked our Hindu driver to flee and assaulted us."

After beating them, the assaulters took away the cattle and about Rs 75,000 from them.

"We don't know where our animals are. They snatched Rs. 75,000/- from us. They also took away our mobiles, wallets, Photo ID. They tore our clothes and completely disrobed us. After assaulting us, they wanted to set us ablaze. But at the moment Police came and saved us," said Irshad.