A 19-year-old Muslim boy, assaulted and paraded naked by a Hindutva mob celebrating Ayodhya’s Ram temple consecration at Morgi, a village on the border with Karnataka in Telangana’s Sangareddy district, was sent to jail with four other Muslims for disrespecting a religious flag, while his attackers remain unarrested.
Though the incident happened on 22 January, it came to light on 25 January.
However, a case has been registered against the teenager, identified as Abbas, for allegedly disrespecting the saffron flag. He was arrested and sent to jail.
The saffron mob accused the teen of disrespecting the religious flag and posting a video on social media.
Tumhari aukaat humare pairon ki dhool (your status is the dust on our feet). We are Muslim, don’t forget it…,” a voice in the background can be heard saying in the video he allegedly posted on social media.
Four other Muslims were also arrested and were sent to remand for allegedly helping him make the video.
The police had booked five men including Abbas under IPC Sections 153A (promoting enmity between groups), 253A (offending religious beliefs), and 505 (2) (promoting hatred or ill-will).
Villagers of Morgi and adjacent village from Karnataka reached Morgi in large numbers and caught the 19-year-old boy. He was thrashed and attacked by pushing him on to the ground in full public view. The teenager was also stripped and paraded naked in the village. One of the members of Hindutva mob also threw fire on his private part, but he managed to doused it before it hurt him. The brutal attack was also shot by one of them and shared it on social media platforms.
A case has been registered against the mob based on the complaint from Abbas.
Five persons from the mob have been identified by the police, but no arrests have been made yet.
The case was registered under IPC Sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 505 (2) (statements conducing public mischief), and 506 (criminal intimidation).
“A man was beaten up & paraded naked in Sangareddy, Telangana. Whatever his offensive behaviour, this kind of heinous mob violence is condemnable.@spsangareddy @TelanganaDGP & CoP Sangareddy must take strict action. Mob violence is a contagious disease & a strong deterrent effect is necessary,” Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi said in a post on X.
