Lucknow: A 45-year-old man in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, was beaten, assaulted and made to chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’ slogans on Wednesday. The victim was thrashed in front of his daughter in full public view, and was finally saved from the mob by the police.
In a disturbing footage that has was released online by locals showed the man’s little daughter holding on to him tightly and begging the assaulters to spare him. The man was later handed over to the police. However, he was reportedly even beaten up in police custody as well.
The incident took place about 500 metres from an intersection where the right-wing group Bajrang Dal held a meeting and alleged that Muslims in the area were trying to convert a Hindu girl in their locality. The assault reportedly took place just after the meeting.
In a statement, the Kanpur police said they 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. There is no confirmation yet if the men named in the case are affiliated to the organisation.
The man in his statement for the complaint said, “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,” the man, who is an e-rickshaw driver, said in his complaint.
“We have seen the video of a man being assaulted. Based on a complaint by the victim, we have filed an FIR and we are carrying out the legal process,” Raveena Tyagi, a senior police official in Kanpur said in a brief statement.
The man is a relative of a Muslim family in the locality that is involved in a legal dispute with their Hindu neighbors.