A 45-year-old Muslim man in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur town was paraded through a street, assaulted and made to chant “Jai Shri Ram” slogans by Hindu men on Wednesday.
Shocking footage of the hate crime shot by locals shows the man’s little daughter clinging on to him and begging the attackers to spare her father who is an e-rickshaw driver.
In a first information report (FIR), the Muslim man stated: “I was driving my e-rickshaw around 3 pm when the accused started abusing and assaulting me and threatening to kill me and my family. I got saved because of the police.”
According to a report by NDTV, the incident took place 500 meters from an intersection where the Hindutva group Bajrang Dal held a meeting, where they claimed Muslims in the area were trying to convert a Hindu girl into their locality. The anti-Muslim violence reportedly took place just after the meeting.
In the video shared by NDTV, he was seen being hit by the attackers even in police custody.
Sources told NDTV that the Bajrang Dal recently got involved in the matter and they had been making allegations of forcible conversion against the Muslim family.
The Kanpur police filed a case of rioting against a local who runs a marriage band, his son, and around 10 unknown people, based on a complaint by the assaulted man.
However, the police have not confirmed whether the accused men are affiliated to the same Hindutva group, despite their faces being clearly visible in the video.
