LUCKNOW: A Muslim man in Kanpur town was assaulted by a group of people who paraded him through a street and made him chant "Jai Shri Ram" on Wednesday.
The assault video went viral on social media. However, eventually, the district police intervened and saved the man, identified as Afsar, who was seen accompanied by his little daughter who was begging the attackers for his life.
The incident took place in Kanpur’s Barra locality at a place that was half a kilometre from an intersection where the Bajrang Dal was holding a meeting. The assaulters claimed that Muslims were trying to convert a Hindu girl into their locality. The assault reportedly took place just after the meeting.
Sources say the Bajrang Dal recently got involved in the matter and they had been making allegations of forcible conversion against a Muslim family to which victim Afsar was related.
In a statement, the Kanpur police said they had filed a case of rioting against a local person who ran a marriage band, his son and around 10 unidentified persons, based on a complaint by the assault victim.
However, the police did not confirm if the men named in the case were affiliated with the right-wing organisation.
The Muslim family is also involved in a legal dispute with their Hindu neighbours. The Kanpur police statement says in July, the two families filed cases against each other at the local police station.
Victim Afsar is an e-rickshaw driver. In his complaint, he claimed that a few persons started abusing him and assaulting him when he was driving his rickshaw around 3 pm on Wednesday.
“The attackers were threatening to kill me and my family. I was saved by the police," the victim said in his complaint. After the incident, the Muslim side filed an FIR of assault and criminal intimidation followed by the Hindu side which filed a case alleging "assault with the intent to outrage the modesty of a woman".
However, DCP, Kanpur South, Raveena Tyagi claimed that the police took cognizance of the video of the man being assaulted. “Based on a complaint by the victim, we have filed an FIR and we have already initiated the legal process in the matter," said the police officer.