New Delhi: On July 28, around 3 pm, a 16-year-old Muslim girl in Varanasi’s Rajatalab came across kanwariyas crossing Varanasi who allegedly harassed, intimidated and assaulted her, including by flashing her at a shop in the locality.

According to the girl’s family, she was at her brother’s footwear store in Rani bazaar with her grandmother, and was shocked when two-three kanwariyas forced their way into the shop and began using lewd language to address her.

According to the family’s account, the men began groping the girl, she shouted and resisted, but the kanwariyas then all flashed her. The girl escaped and ran towards her house, only to allegedly be chased by the kanwariyas wielding lathis.

The men did not stop there; as per the girl’s family, one of the kanwariyas forcefully entered her house right after her. Onlookers – who saw the girl visibly traumatised – followed and pulled the kanwariya out. The trespassing kanwariya was also allegedly beaten by the onlookers who witnessed the chase.

After this, they say, a whole band of kanwariyas appeared on the scene, joined by local Hindu organisations, to defend the kanwariya accused of harassment. The entire stretch spanning over a kilometer from the market was blocked by a sea of people. During this, locals allege that kanwariyas were wielding rods and sticks, while chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’. The small Muslim population in the locality say they felt cornered.

Till 7 pm, kanwariyas and a local Vishwa Hindu Parishad activist, Rakesh Pandey, were able to create a traffic jam to show their might in the area, locals told The Wire.

Owing to an altercation between Pandey and the Rajatalab Police, Pandey was taken to the police station to be detained. “But what surprised us after this was that later, the police arrived at our house and bundled several men from our family, including an octogenarian heart patient, into their vehicle,” a relative of the girl told The Wire.

The relative also said that the police on July 29 filed an FIR against onlookers who heckled the accused kanwariya. Seven Muslims from the girl’s locality – including members of the girl’s family – were booked under sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita including 191 (2) (rioting), 115(2) (pertains to the offense of voluntarily causing hurt), 181 (1) (voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 309 (violence or the threat of violence is used during the commission of the crime), 333 (addresses the offense of house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault, or wrongful restraint), 351(2) pertains to the offense of assault, criminal intimidation, 352 (intentional insult with the intent to provoke a breach of peace). 

In addition to this, the local police have also added the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 to the list of offenses, implying that the Muslims who intervened in the matter, and tried to save the girl when the accused kanwariya entered her home with a stick, were in fact, trying to convert the kanwariya to Islam. The family says a bulldozer has also been parked in the lane with the footwear shop in Rani bazaar, and while no buildings have been bulldozed yet, locals believe this is a form of intimidation by the authorities. 

The family has also alleged that a few Hindus in the area, who were helping them and creating awareness among others that the Muslim girl had been harassed, were also threatened by the kanwariyas to keep quiet.

Currently, there is no FIR against the kanwariya who, according to the girl and her family, molested and harassed the girl.

Her family has filed a complaint online with the National Human Rights Commission. 

Apart from those detained, the police also threatened those Muslims who supported the girl and her family, the family alleged. “The police were phoning Muslim shopkeepers who supported us to report to the station or else their shops would be bulldozed. They even brought a bulldozer and parked it near our lane,” the girl’s relative said.

The family have shared CCTV footage with The Wire where the girl can be clearly seen running, and a man wearing a saffron bottom chasing her, followed by several other people.

The Wire also spoke to Ajay Kumar Srivastav, ACP, Rajatalab, who said that those who harassed the kanwariya have been arrested. When asked about the allegations and claims of the girl’s family, Srivastav first said that her allegations were 100% wrong and then added that the police would investigate the matter.

Three days after the incident, Rajatalab remains crowded by the rapid action force, local police and kanwariyas. Locals told The Wire that Hindu organisations have still been circling the area, shouting slogans. 

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