A Muslim pickup-truck driver who was allegedly assaulted following a road accident involving a group of kanwariyas in Uttar Pradesh’s Hapur district died after remaining in a coma for several days, according to a report by ThePrint.

Azeem, who was travelling in a pickup truck, was taken to a hospital in Meerut after an accident on July 30 and later transferred to a hospital in Delhi when his condition failed to improve. He died on Aug. 4, his family told ThePrint.

Police have registered a case against seven people, including four kanwariyas and an auto-rickshaw driver, following a complaint by Azeem’s family. Two other unidentified people have also been named in the case, according to the FIR accessed by ThePrint.

The incident began when Azeem’s pickup truck collided with an auto-rickshaw carrying several kanwariyas, police said. The truck then lost control and hit Arman, an auto-rickshaw driver who was standing beside the vehicle.

Arman was injured in the collision. According to Azeem’s family, members of the group subsequently pulled Azeem out of his pickup truck and assaulted him.

Azeem’s wife became worried when she did not hear from him the following day.

“When the phone rang on 2 August, I thought it was Azeem, but it wasn’t,” she told ThePrint by phone.

She said police called her at around 5 a.m. and told her that Azeem had been taken to a hospital in Meerut, where his condition was deteriorating.

“We got to know that he had met with an accident. When we reached the hospital, we saw his body wrapped in bandages and the doctor informed us that he had gone into a coma,” Azeem’s elder brother, Maqbool Ali, told ThePrint.

Maqbool said he learnt at the hospital that his brother’s pickup truck had collided with an auto-rickshaw carrying kanwariyas. He alleged that the passengers then dragged Azeem from the truck and beat him.

“His truck had collided with an auto, and then the kanwariyas sitting inside the auto pulled out my brother and beat him up mercilessly. The police then drove him to a hospital.”

Maqbool said he tried to speak to his brother after reaching the hospital but found him unresponsive.

“Woh toh laash ki tarah pada huya tha (he was lying like a lifeless body),” he said.

As Azeem’s condition did not improve, his family moved him to a hospital in Delhi. He died there on Aug. 4, according to his brother.

“On 4 August, around 9 p.m., the doctor called to inform us that he was no more. If my brother had made some mistake, why not hand him over to the police? Why beat him up?” Maqbool said.

Two FIRs registered

Following Azeem’s death, police registered an FIR at Garhmukhteshwar police station. The case names Manish, Ankit, Lokesh and Shivam, described as kanwariyas, as well as Arman, the auto-rickshaw driver, according to the FIR accessed by ThePrint. Two additional people whose identities were not known at the time were also booked.

The accused have been charged under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to attempt to murder, rioting and voluntarily causing simple hurt, ThePrint reported.

Hapur police said on social media platform X that they had received a written complaint from Azeem’s family and had taken legal action. Police had not identified the two unidentified suspects and no arrests had been made at the time of the report, according to ThePrint.

“Based on the written complaint, a case has been registered at Garhmukhteshwar police station under relevant sections, and further legal proceedings are underway,” the police said in their post.

A separate FIR was filed by Imran, the father of Arman, the auto-rickshaw driver who was injured in the initial collision.

According to the FIR cited by ThePrint, Arman, a 19-year-old resident of Hapur, had left on July 30 with a group of kanwariyas travelling towards Brijghat.

Imran alleged in his complaint that his son was standing near Hapur’s Shiva Dhaba when Azeem’s pickup truck struck him.

“My son was standing near Hapur’s Shiva Dhaba when a pickup truck driven by Azeem hit him. As a result, he fell down on the road, and the vehicle drove over him, injuing him,” the FIR quoted Imran as saying.

Imran said Arman suffered serious injuries to his stomach and was being treated at the trauma centre of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Police subsequently registered a case against Azeem under BNS provisions relating to attempted murder in connection with the collision.

The two FIRs reflect allegations by both sides following the incident, with Azeem’s family accusing the kanwariyas and others of assaulting him after the collision, while Arman’s father alleged that Azeem’s driving caused his son’s injuries.

ThePrint said it contacted several Uttar Pradesh Police officers for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication. It said the report would be updated if the officers responded.