A scrap dealer from Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh was allegedly assaulted onboard a train on the night of January 12. Police have registered a case in the case.
Huneza Khan | TwoCircles.net
NEW DELHI — A Muslim man was allegedly assaulted onboard a train while travelling from Delhi to Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh on the night of January 12.
The video of the assault has since gone viral on social media, with many expressing outrage over the incident.
किया यह मोहन भागवत के बयान का रिएक्शन हैं ?
चलती ट्रेन में मुरादाबाद पीतल व्यापारी आसिम हुसैन के साथ हुई मॉब लिंचिंग।
जबरन धार्मिक नारे, कपड़े उतारकर बेल्ट से पिटाई का वीडियो वायरल।@asadowaisi pic.twitter.com/kH6Qwkty8I— Shaukat Ali (@imshaukatali) January 13, 2023
Asim Hussain, a scrap dealer from Moradabad, told TwoCircles.net that the incident occurred on the night of January 12 when he was on a train journey from Delhi to Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh. Hussain makes six to seven trips to Delhi every month to buy aluminium scrap which he sells in his hometown Moradabad.
He said the train was crowded and after some passengers boarded the train from the Hapur district, a man screamed and called me a thief saying “Mullahs (Muslims) are thieves.”
“After hearing his scream, the other men there began to thrash me. They plucked my beard and said all these Mullahs are the same,” he added.
Hussain said the perpetrators forced him to chant “Jai Sri Ram” (Glory be to Lord Ram).
“They removed my clothes and ruthlessly beat me as I refused to chant the slogan. The beating continued from Garh town to Moradabad. A passenger among the crowd showed kindness and pushed me out of the train at the station outer in Moradabad. Just before the train departed, he told me to run fast and escape. I managed to run while still naked,” Hussain said.
Hussain said he has no idea who the attackers were and what motivated them.
“In fact, I don’t even recall the saviour. I resisted as long as I could. Even when I chanted the slogan, they didn’t stop. They took away 2200 Rs from my jacket. I was almost unconscious. Finally, an acquaintance from the neighbourhood helped me with the clothes at Moradabad,” he said.
Distressed by the assault, Hussain said that no man deserves to go through such terror. “There are a lot of bruises on my body. I am in severe pain. This incident will haunt me for the rest of my life. I will be in constant fear while travelling in trains,” he said.
Hussain wants the perpetrators to be booked.
Moradabad Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Devi Dayal told TwoCircles.net that two arrests were made in the case.
“Since there was no written complaint from the complainant initially, we took action under IPC Section 151 (arrest to prevent the commission of cognizable offences) against the accused,” DySP Dayal said.
“They (accused) gave a statement in front of the magistrate and got bail,” said Dayal.
He added that the victim gave a written complaint only yesterday late at night. “An FIR has been registered under sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 392 (robbery), 298 (hurting religious sentiments) of the Indian Penal Code,” the DySp said.
Police denied any communal angle to the incident.
“People who shot the video have admitted that the victim was neither forced to chant religious slogans nor his beard was plucked. I also spoke to the accused. He claimed that he hit him (the victim) because he had put his hands in the accused’s pocket. I am sure that there is no communal angle in this incident. However, based on a complaint [filed by the victim], I have registered a complaint under section 298 (hurting religious sentiments),” the DSP added.
Huneza Khan is a journalist from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. She tweets @KhanHuneza