An elderly Muslim man was ruthlessly beaten up in India’s Uttar Pradesh by Hindu extremists. One of the accused even cut off the man’s beard and forced him to shout extremist slogans.
According to media reports, the old man Abdul Samad, 72, was traveling to a mosque when he was kidnapped by the men and taken to an isolated place. There he was assaulted and the men made him shout ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Vande Mataram.’
Abdul Samad further described the attack, “They kicked and punched me and forced me to shout Jai Shri Ram,” he said, breaking into tears. “They put a gun to my head and said they’ll kill me. They continued to beat me for hours and I kept screaming.”
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The video of the incident, which was widely circulated on social media, shows one of the accused men thrashing the elderly Abdul Samad, who is pleading with them.
https://twitter.com/RanaAyyub/status/1404451814049673218?s=20
One of the attackers-a young man wearing a white full sleeve T-shirt and blue sweatpants-also threatened Mr. Samad with a knife that he used to forcibly cut away at his beard.
Abdul Samad has received several bruises on his back and the incident has left him severely traumatized.
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Violence against Muslims
The accused in the video has been identified as Pravesh Gujjar, a resident of Ghaziabad. The police have registered a case against him, and as per the Indian Express, at present, are investigating if he has any prior criminal history.
The police are also on the lookout for the other men involved.
“The main accused is presently detained in jail and further action will be taken in the case by arresting the other accused,” Loni Circle Atul Kumar Sonkar said.
उक्त वीडियो वायरल के संबंध में पीड़ित की तहरीर पर पूर्व में ही अभियोग थाना लोनी बॉर्डर पर पंजीकृत है मुख्य अभियुक्त वर्तमान में जेल में निरुद्ध है अन्य अभियुक्त गण की शीघ्र गिरफ्तारी कर प्रकरण में आगे की कार्रवाई की जाएगी । बाइट सीओ लोनी pic.twitter.com/1EeZ6h6RUO
— POLICE COMMISSIONERATE GHAZIABAD (@ghaziabadpolice) June 14, 2021
This is not the first time that a Muslim man has been beaten in India by extremists. Muslims have continuously suffered at the hands of Hindu extremists as cases of Hindu brutality against Muslims are on the rise in India.
Recently, a 14-year-old Muslim boy was beaten in India for entering and drinking water from a Hindu temple. In another case, a 23-year-old Muslim man was brutally beaten by Indian police. He was taken to the hospital but died the next day. The postmortem report detailed 20 wounds on his body and said he died as a result of a head injury.
Read more: Sad but true! Violence against Muslims in India will continue