A Muslim cloth hawker was brutally beaten and thrashed with lathis for refusing to chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’ in Aligarh’s Harduaganganj on October 31st. 24-year-old Amir Khan is a resident of Sirla village in Harduaganj and was roaming in the streets of Nagla Khem, a nearby village in search of customers to sell cloth.
While he was conducting his trade, a father-son duo named Raju and Devendra allegedly thrashed Amir and forced him to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’. Amir also alleged the duo forced him to touch the feet of the picture of a Hindu deity that was imprinted on a calendar that they bought with them.
Speaking to The Cognate, Arif Khan, the victim’s uncle said, “Amir went out for his work as usual. While he was coming back home after selling clothes, a father-son duo approached him and asked his name. On realizing that his name is Arif and he is a Muslim they said ‘Mulla hai, maro mulle ko’ and they started beating him”.
“They attacked him, beat him up with lathis and forced him to chant “Jai Shree Ram”, to save his life Amir once said that slogan, but then they bought a calendar with a picture of Hindu God and forced him to worship that, to which he refused and they continued beating him”, he added.
An FIR has been registered at Harduaganj Police station against both the accused under section 307 (Murder attempt) and 323 (Voluntarily causing hurt) of the IPC.
Station House officer of Harduaganj Police Station, Rajesh Kumar has confirmed the incident.
“A case has been registered against Raju and Devendra under section 307and 323 of IPC. Both of them are in jail, in custody and we are investigating the case”, he said.
Raju and Devendra were seen raising slogans such as ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘Jai Shree Ram’ when the police went to arrest them.
Amir sustained severe injuries and is now admitted at Pt. Deen Dayal Hospital in Aligarh district. Amir lives in Nagla Khem with his parents, wife and two kids. He is the only earning member of his family.
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Ghazala Ahmad is the Delhi Correspondent for The Cognate.
