New Delhi: An elderly Muslim man in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad district was assaulted by a group of Hindus, while he was on his way to a mosque. The incident that took place on June 5, came to light on Monday.
The aged man identified as Abdul Samad Saifi was allegedly abducted from an autorickshaw and was dragged to a hut in a nearby forested area, where the group reportedly shouted ‘Jai Shri Ram‘ and ‘Vande Mataram’ as they punched and beat him with wooden sticks.
They reportedly accused Samad of being a Pakistani spy. One of many attackers – a younger man sporting a white full-sleeve T-shirt and blue sweatpants – further threatened Samad with a knife that he used to forcibly hack away at his beard.
A video of the vile incident has been circulated online. The video shows at least two other young men attacking Samad – one wearing a black shirt and red trousers, and another in a light-blue T-shirt and grey trousers.
“I was on my way when I was offered a lift. Two more men then got inside (the auto-rickshaw) and told me to stay. Then they took me to a room and locked me up and thrashed me. They forced me to chant slogans… they took my mobile away… they got a knife and cut my beard,” a visibly traumatized Samad, who was reduced to tears, said.
“They even showed me a video of other Muslims being attacked,” he said, adding his attackers had boasted to him that they had killed many Muslims before.
Police have registered a case and arrested a Pravesh Gujjar, who is believed to be the main accused. They are still looking for the others.
Atul Kumar Sonkar, a senior police officer from Loni in Ghaziabad, said “required steps” had been taken.