The police showed no mercy to Aarish, beating him further even after he mentioned that he was fasting
Team Clarion
DEHRADUN – A disturbing incident of police brutality against a Muslim boy in Uttarakhand’s Rudrapur town has come to light. The boy, Aarish, was brutally assaulted by two plainclothes policemen while returning from Eid shopping on his bike. The incident occurred at Indira Chowk, where the policemen stopped him without reason and beat him up.
Disturbingly, the policemen showed no mercy to Aarish, beating him further even after he mentioned that he was observing the Ramadan fast. Aarish was then taken to the Rampura police outpost, handcuffed, and severely beaten in an inside room. The police even slapped him and threatened to send him to jail when his family arrived at the outpost.
The incident came to light on Tuesday when some residents, Congress leader Mohan Kheda, and Sanjay Anuja of the Traders’ Association went to the Kotwali police station to raise the matter with the police.
Atiq, the victim’s father, has filed a complaint with the police, alleging that his son was assaulted for no reason. They have demanded action against the accused policemen. The police station in-charge has assured an investigation and appropriate action.
A video shows the victim having injury marks on his hand and back.
https://twitter.com/HateDetectors/status/1905152576305447186
Talking about the incident, Aarish said, “I was returning after buying some clothes for Eid. My bike was stopped by policemen on the way. They started thrashing me and misbehaving with me. They pulled out the key from my bike. Then, I was taken to the police outpost.”
Aarish added, “At the police outpost, I was thrashed further. I was wearing a skull cap. When they saw it, they again thrashed me. They beat me up with a belt and other things. When I said I’m fasting for Ramadan and I have not eaten anything, they assaulted me again.”
Aarish identified the erring policemen as Vijay and Mahesh.
The incident sparked outrage among locals, who staged a protest at the police station demanding immediate action against the accused officers.
Meanwhile, Rudrapur CO Prashant Kumar said that the matter has not come to his notice. If a complaint is received regarding the beating of the minor, an investigation will be conducted, and action will be taken based on the investigation report.
This incident is not an isolated one. Muslims in India have been facing increasing violence and discrimination, with many instances of police brutality and hate crimes going unpunished. Muslims, who account for 14% of the total population, continue to face systemic persecution, marginalisation, and official apathy.
