FIR registered against the businessman; outrage online with users questioning communal targeting and alleged police inaction
MUMBAI — What started as a routine Saturday afternoon for an elderly shopkeeper in Juhu’s upscale lanes here turned into a harrowing ordeal that has since set social media ablaze.
Rafat Hussain, the owner of Mannat Ethnic Designer, said he was subjected to religious abuse and harassment inside his own showroom. According to Hussain, four women walked into his store around 3:30 pm on Saturday, June 13, asking about sherwanis (long, formal, coat-like garments) and suits for a wedding.
The conversation, he said, quickly soured. “They began using abusive language. Then they stood up and started insulting me, targeting my religious identity,” Hussain recounted. The calm of the boutique gave way to hostility as the women allegedly told him, “You are a Muslim, you live in a certain way, and you do things in the wrong way.”
Feeling threatened, Hussain left the shop and rushed to the nearest police station. What followed, he claims, was even more alarming. Within 20-25 minutes, a crowd of nearly 150 people gathered outside the station, raising slogans often heard during communal flashpoints. Hussain alleged that 20-25 young men tried to force their way into the station to attack him.
Police escorted him to safety, but Hussain said officers appeared reluctant to take action against the women. Instead, an FIR was reportedly filed against him by the women.
The incident came to wider public attention after a video of Hussain narrating his experience went viral days later.
While inside the station, Hussain reached out to All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leaders Waris Pathan and Imtiaz Jaleel for help. He alleged that after speaking with Pathan, the officer on duty, identified as Bushan More, seemed indifferent and denied the presence of the crowd despite the noise outside.
Now shaken, Hussain said he is afraid to stand in his own showroom. “My only crime is that I am sitting here sporting a beard and wearing a cap,” he said, his voice heavy in the viral clip.
He believes the episode was pre-planned. “How could they mobilise such a large crowd so quickly if they had genuinely come for shopping?” he asked. “Seeing what is happening with the Muslim community across the country, this seems like a planned attack. I feel a contract was given to target me, but I escaped by running to the police station.”
The video has triggered sharp outrage online, with users questioning communal targeting and alleged police inaction. For many, the incident has become another stark reminder of the tensions surrounding religious identity in urban India.
Police have not yet issued an official statement detailing their version of events.
