New Delhi: A 45-year-old Muslim man in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur town was paraded through a street, assaulted and made to chant “Jai Shri Ram” slogans on Wednesday, NDTV reported.
In the video shared by NDTV, the man’s young daughter was seen clinging on to him and pleading with the attackers to spare her father.
The Muslim man, who is an e-rickshaw driver, was handed over to the police. In a first information report (FIR), the Muslim man stated: “I was driving my e-rickshaw around 3 pm when the accused started abusing and assaulting me and threatening to kill me and my family. I got saved because of the police.”
Although he said he was saved by the police, but in the video he was seen being hit by the attackers even in police custody.
According to the report, the incident happened after the right-wing group Bajrang Dal held a meeting 500 metres away, where they claimed Muslims in the area were trying to convert a Hindu girl in their locality. The assaulted man is a relative of a Muslim family in the locality that is involved in a legal dispute with their Hindu neighbours. Kanpur Police told NDTV that the two families in July had filed cases against each other at the local police station.
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“The Muslim side had filed an FIR of assault and criminal intimidation first. The Hindu side then filed a case alleging assault with the intent to outrage the modesty of a woman,” the report said.
Sources told NDTV that the Bajrang Dal recently got involved in the matter and they had been making allegations of forcible conversion against the Muslim family. However, the police have not confirmed whether the accused men are affiliated to the same right-wing group, despite their faces being clearly visible in the video.
The report said the Kanpur Police have filed a case of rioting against a local who runs a marriage band, his son and around 10 unknown people, based on a complaint by the assaulted man.
