The Uttar Pradesh police has arrested three persons accused of beating up a 45-year-old Muslim man and forcing him to shout “Jai Shri Ram” in Kanpur.
The distressing footage of the incident shows the man being dragged and thrashed, even as his terrified young daughter is seen screaming in distress. The footage also shows the man being hit while in the custody of the police.
The three accused have been identified as Aman Gupta, Ajay and Rahul Kumar. Gupta is said to be associated with VHP.
Reports said that police had named five persons in the FIR as also mentioned eight to 10 unknown persons who were involved in rioting, criminal intimidation and voluntarily causing hurt.
After the arrest, a mob of the Hindu extremist Bajrang Dal held a demonstration outside the police station demanding the release of the accused.
The incident took place on Wednesday soon after the Hindu extremist group Bajrang Dal called a meeting in the vicinity. The group accused that the Muslims in the area were trying to convert a Hindu woman to Islam. The brutal assault on the Muslim man by marauding Bajrang Dal thugs took place just after the meeting, NDTV reported.
“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, according to NDTV.
The man is a relative of a Muslim family in the locality that is involved in a legal dispute with their Hindu neighbours. The two families filed cases against each other at the local police station, a statement issued by Kanpur police in July said.
The horrific incident of the man being brutalised in front of his pleading daughter sent shockwaves across the country, depicting the scary reality of living as a Muslim in the country.
The incident comes on the heels of genocidal threats that were made on Sunday calling for the killing of Muslims at Jantar Mantar in the national capital.
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