In the Sirma village in the Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand, a Hindu girl is forced to leave her home along with her sister and widowed mother and live at a relative’s home after she was beaten on 10th August 2022 by a gang of men led by on Md Waseem over a viral video. The victim’s family is not ready to come back to the village even after the accused son of the Sarpanch of the village surrendered on Tuesday 23rd August 2022.
Sarpanch’s son Md Waseem harassed the Hindu family
According to a report by News Track Live, a Hindu widowed woman Kiran Devi Sao lives with her two minor daughters in the Sirma village of the Barkagaon police station area of the Hazaribagh district in Jharkhand. This family is one of the 3-4 Hindu families living in this Muslim-majority village. The victim Kiran Devi alleged that her two minor daughters were abused by a group of local Muslims who slapped the girls and made them perform sit-ups in front of the Panchayat when it was raining. Its video was also made viral on social media. The incident took place on 10th August 2022.
According to Kiran Devi, the Muslims threatened that they will prohibit the Hindu family from worshipping their deities and the mob of Muslims also pressurized them to convert to Islam if they wanted to live in the village. This attack by the local Muslims on the Hindu family was done allegedly because of a viral video. The minor victim girl, in this case, is accused to have made a video viral in which a group of Muslims, allegedly from the same village, is seen waving a Pakistani flag.
Police booked the victims and the Congress leader suggested to ‘compromise’
Enraged over this video, a mob of men, comprising of Md Waseem and his accomplices, broke into the victim’s home and beat all of them, and forced them to do sit-ups in public. The police first registered a case against the victims instead of the miscreants. Sanatan Hindu Samaj Organization started a hunger strike against this action and demanded that security should be given to the victim’s family. It was after this, that the police took note of the victim’s complaint and registered a case against Mohammad Waseem – son of village head Ishrat Jahan, Shajibullah, Mohammad Nazim, Mohammad Saqib, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Nadim, and 10 others.
On 21st August 2022, when the local Congress MLA Amba Prasad reached the village to visit the victim’s family, he forced the minor girl to tie a Rakhi to the people who had harassed her in an attempt to showcase his efforts to ‘maintain the peace’. The victim later said that she was forced to do so. The MLA is reported to have advised the victim saying ‘How long will the administration help you? Ultimately you have to live here with these people (Waseem and his gang) only.’
The minor victim has told media that the Congress MLA threatened her that if she pursues the case, she (the victim herself) may be arrested.
Arrests and surrender of the accused persons
Accused Mohammad Nadeem and Mohammad Saqib were first arrested by the police. On Tuesday 23rd August 2022, the main accused Mohammad Waseem surrendered in the POSCO court. Some of the locals had also pressurized the families of the accused to ‘cooperate’ in this case. Sirma Anjuman Committee held a press conference and said that this incident has brought shame to the whole community. The main accused surrendered after the Anjuman Committee appealed to him to surrender failing to which his family would be boycotted by the local Muslims. Police are conducting raids to arrest the other accused. Preparations are also being made for the attachment and seizure of their houses.
The victim left the village
The victim’s family left the village soon after the Congress MLA forced them to tie Rakhi to the persons who were behind the incident. The minor victim, her sister, and their widowed mother have left the village. The house is locked. The entire family is staying at the house of their uncle in a nearby village. After the incident, the frightened victim also stopped going to school.
The child protection committee team met the victim and her relatives on Tuesday. The victim said she was being pressurised to withdraw the case soon after the incident. She added that until all the accused are arrested, the family will not return to the village. The administration has provided them security, yet the family does not feel safe. Child Protection Officer Sanjay Kumar has asked the administration to make adequate security arrangements and ensure that the minor’s education is not interrupted.