A mob tied a dog leash around the neck of a Muslim man and assaulted him for visiting a Hindu friend at her home in Kankhal in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar, police said on Sunday.
Videos of the incident circulating on social media allegedly showed Shadab from Haryana’s Karnal sitting outside the woman’s house with blood pouring from his head as a crowd of people gathered around him. In one video, a man can be heard asking: “Didn’t you know she was a Hindu woman?” Another clip shows a man slapping him on Saturday.
The police registered a case under Sections 115 (2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 191 (2) (rioting), 333 (trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 351 (2) (criminal intimidation) and 352 (intentional insult with intent to cause breach of peace) in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on the woman’s complaint.
The woman said in her complaint that she has known Shadab for five years. She claimed that about ten men broke into her house and assaulted him. “I tried to intervene, but they wouldn’t stop. They abused him and threatened to kill him,” she said in the complaint.
Ravi Chauhan, Haridwar district president of the Bajrang Vahini Dal, said they received a report that a Muslim man was found in an unacceptable condition. “We informed the police and handed him over to them.”
Anuj Singh, a senior police inspector, said they were informed on Saturday afternoon that a man who had come to meet a woman had been assaulted. “We reached the spot and sent the injured man to the hospital for treatment. A case was subsequently registered based on the woman’s complaint. She told us that she knew the man and had no objection to him visiting her house,” Singh said.
Singh said they are examining CCTV footage and videos circulating on social media to identify those involved in the assault. “Appropriate legal action will be taken.”
