Teacher Joseph and the car he was driving while being attacked
By Sutik Phitsawat
BBC India correspondent
Teacher TJ. Joseph, a Malayalam teacher at a Christian college in the southern Indian state of Kerala. He still remembers the shocking events that happened to him 12 years ago.
At that moment, Teacher Joseph, 52, was driving home. After attending Mass at the local church His wife and sister, a Catholic nun, were also in the car.
Just 100 meters before reaching the house, a small van overtook it. Before turning sharply in front of him to prevent his car from going further, six men ran down from it and surrounded Master Joseph’s car. Some villains carry knives and axes. Both trying to pull the front and rear doors open.
The villain finally broke the window with an ax and successfully opened the car door from the inside. They dragged Master Joseph, who was curled up on the floor of the car, outside. Thrusts with a knife and ax and chops at his limbs like chopping wood. Until finally his left hand was cut off and thrown away. The right arm was chopped off and dangling, almost out of his body.
Teacher Joseph’s wife and son in the house. They ran out to look in shock. After hearing the cries and the sound of the car window shattering The teacher’s son tried to hit the villain with a sword knife. Instead, they threw a hand grenade at them before hurriedly fleeing.
Joseph was taken to a hospital 50 kilometers from the scene where it took six surgeons 16 hours to operate on his severe wounds. including the left hand found in the neighbor’s garden to return to its original place
It took doctors 16 hours to perform surgery to repair his arms, hands and fingers.
Go back 4 months before In the early morning hours of March 26, 2010, Professor Joseph received a call from the director of the college where he was teaching. by telling him not to come to work today because “There are Muslim mobs surrounding the school. We have asked the police to help protect them. But if you come, the event may escalate.”
Teacher Joseph was perplexed, unable to remember what he had done wrong. but was informed that the contents of the grammar test which he recently used as a small test. There are messages that insult the Prophet Muhammad of Islam.
Teacher Joseph previously used some passages from the script. “God and Mad,” an imaginary dialogue written by Indian director PT Ju Muhammed, in which Professor Joseph used the author’s last name “Muhammed” in place of his first name. The drama “Mad Men” in such exams
“The name Muhammed or Muhammad is a name commonly used by Muslims. So I didn’t think that someone would misunderstand. See that I despise the prophets of Islam,” Joseph explained.
Professor Joseph teaches Malayalam at a Christian college.
Violent protests by local Muslims causing various shops in the city to be temporarily closed The college immediately suspends Professor Joseph to allay the outrage of the protesters. He personally let his wife hurry to pack the bag for him. before getting on a bus to escape the city quickly
The police immediately set out to find Teacher Joseph. Since he was suspected of blasphemy, six days later he turned himself in to the authorities. before being taken to the collective cell. He had to spend a week with murderous criminals and bootleggers before being released on bail.
Master Joseph’s residence that the assailants attempted to break three times.
The real nightmare started following that. The Christian college where he teaches issued a statement pleading guilty and apologizing to the Muslim community. and also sent a notice to him that he was guilty of “Hurting the feelings of all religious people. especially with Islam.”
a few months later A mob attempted to break into Master Joseph’s house three times in a row. At first the mob claimed to be a college student. They will ask teachers to help write articles in their journals. But because Master Joseph was not at home at that time. The villains then returned.
The second time, the mob pretended to be asking for a donation. to treat a daughter who is suffering from kidney disease They handed an envelope to Teacher Joseph. By claiming that it was a letter of recommendation from someone he knew well.
“At first, I received the envelope. but was afraid that it might be an explosion so sent it back Then I shut the door and walked away immediately,” said Teacher Joseph. “Now I’m sure. There is definitely a movement that aims to take my life.”
The last time was in late May. 2010 A mob claiming to be a bank employee and an undercover police officer Able to break into Master Joseph’s villa successfully. But luckily at that time he was with a neighbor. causing the mob to find him.
Even following this, he will try to stay at home more. But two months later, police arrested 31 suspects, all of whom were involved in the movement. The “Popular Front of India” (PFI) is a Muslim organization founded in 2006.
Last month (Sept. 2022), the Indian government suspended PFI temporarily for five years over allegations of terrorist involvement. But the organization persists in denying the charges.
image source, PTI
13 of the accused were convicted in 2015.
13 suspects have been found guilty of involvement in Master Joseph’s amputation. Each faces a prison sentence of eight years and pays damages of Rs 800,000 or around 370,000 baht each.
However, prosecutors have appealed for the mob to be punished even more. In addition, 11 other suspects are pending trial that stretches for more than a decade. By having to examine up to 400 witnesses together.
Jacob Pannus, Kerala State Police Commissioner more than ten years ago. told the BBC reporter that “This is the best planned assassination. as much as I’ve seen in my entire life as a policeman.”
image source, Getty Images
The Muslim PFI movement says it has hundreds of thousands of members across the country.
“There are people pointing the target. The person surveyed the path the victim took to the church in advance. A fake registration was made for the vehicle used in the crime. and prepare two more cars to escape Every villain’s cell phone uses a brand new SIM card. But it crashed when one of the bad guys tried to use it to make a call to an unrelated number. allowing the police to track him down.”
Despite the perpetrators being punished and hoping for some compensation. But Master Joseph’s life was completely destroyed by this incident. following he left the hospital The college he used to teach at decided to fire him without sympathy. Even though he still has to take care of his wife and two teenage children.
Master Joseph’s right arm lost all sensation. until he had to turn to practice using his left arm and hand to write and eat instead Still, he had to undergo multiple surgeries to repair his limbs and fingers. This caused the expenses to rise until the family’s finances began to not reach the back. Wife’s jewelry cannot be redeemed from the pawnshop. and can pay off the child’s student loan debt
The rushing stress This led Master Joseph’s wife to commit suicide in 2014, even just a year earlier. The court will now have her husband acquitted of blasphemy charges. and clarified that all causes were “Misunderstandings” of Muslims
Three days following Master Joseph’s wife died. The college that had fired him from his job four years ago announced that he was re-entering the job. which is just three days before retirement is due.
It is expected that the new statement of this college It happened because of the pressure from the surrounding society. Both sympathize with the tragic fate of Master Joseph’s family. By accepting a new job, even for a short period of time, it is enough for him to be able to receive a reasonable pension.
Teacher Joseph now works as a writer. using the left hand that had been cut off to write a memoir The 700-page “A Thousand Cuts,” which was released last year and has sold 30,000 copies, is also set to release a collection of short stories. and memoirs of the sequel from the first book as well
