Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – The Uttar Pradesh police have denied that the viral video of a bike-borne Muslim youth and a girl being assaulted has a connection with Hindutva priest Yati Narsinghanand’s derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
The Hapur police have now said that the viral video is from Dholana area of the district where the youth was assaulted because he was going out with a girl from a different community. It’s not related to the Ghaziabad incident.
Ten days ago, the youth was arrested after being booked for rape charges. The police officer also said that it would file an FIR against those who relate the incident to other issues.
Earlier, the video was said to be from Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad district. But the police in Ghaziabad denied any such incident happening in their jurisdiction and no complaint has been filed at any of the district’s police stations in this regard.
The 42-second video shows a group of six to seven men stopping the youth riding the bike with a girl. The mob stops the bike and starts raining fist blows and kicking him mercilessly. The assaulters kept thrashing the victim till he fell to the ground and used epithets usually directed towards Muslims.
The video shows the crying girl being pushed aside and as her wailing grows and she calls out for help, she is also thrashed by the mob.
Social media users had suggested that the Muslim youth was assaulted in Ghaziabad as he had protested against the Narsinghanand’s derogatory remarks.
Posting the video, Samajwadi Party spokesperson Manoj Yadav said “Ghaziabad: A Muslim boy returning home with his sister from school was brutally attacked. These incidents are not stopping, what is the Uttar Pradesh police system doing?”
Reacting to the video, Ghaziabad Police Commissionerate said: “The incident in the video is not from Ghaziabad. No information has been received about the incident at any police station in Ghaziabad. Please clarify which police station area the incident took place in. Without confirming the video, do not try to spoil the atmosphere by giving it a communal colour”.
Krishna Kant, a journalist based in Uttar Pradesh, said the video is from Uttar Pradesh’s Hapur district.
“Some people on the road are stopping a boy and a girl and beating them. They are using abusive language on religious grounds. Some people said that this video is from Ghaziabad and Ghaziabad Police are going around telling everyone that the video is not from there. Actually, this video is from Hapur. The issue is not which district the video is from. The issue is that the goons in the state are so fearless that they can beat up anyone whenever they want. On the one hand, the MLA got beaten up in Lakhimpur, on the other hand, the public is being beaten up on the road,” said Kant.
