On Saturday (14th December), the Uttar Pradesh police arrested a man named Mohammed Mehtab for assaulting a minor girl and forcing her to remove her hijab. The incident occurred in Deoband in Saharanpur district of the State.
Mehtab was part of a violent mob that attacked a 17-year-old Muslim girl on Wednesday (11th December) for ‘speaking’ to a Hindu man.
On the fateful day, the victim was heading home from her relative’s house. She was accompanied by her younger sister, who is about 16 years old.
हिजाब उतरवाकर पिटाई की और वीडियो बनाकर वायरल कर दिया।
— Satyam Mishra/सत्यम् मिश्र (@satyammlive) December 14, 2024
सहारनपुर में हिंदू लड़कों के साथ घूमने के शक में मुस्लिम कट्टरपंथियों ने नाबालिग युवतियों का बुर्का हटवाया फिर पिटाई की।
पीड़िताओं ने थाने में तहरीर देकर मुकदमा दर्ज करवाया।#hijab #burka #shaharanpur #MuslimGirls… pic.twitter.com/hIt3aAPCUN
The duo was interrupted by a bike-borne man, asking for directions. While the minor girls were explaining the route, two men stopped them alleging that they were speaking to a Hindu man.
Soon after, other Muslims joined in the public harassment. One Muslim man could be seen holding the girl by her hijab and recording her on his phone.
Another man was seen slapping the underage girl multiple times. One man took away her phone while she tried to call her brother. A third Muslim man alleged that the victim bought a ‘gift’ for the ‘Hindu man’.
The ordeal only came to an end when it transpired that the man who sought directions from the victim and her sister was not Hindu.
#SaharanpurPolice
— Saharanpur Police (@saharanpurpol) December 14, 2024
➡️#थाना_देवबंद क्षेत्रान्तर्गत दारुल उलूम के पास कुछ अज्ञात व्यक्तियों द्वारा 02 युवतियों के साथ दुर्व्यहार करने व वीडियों वायरल करने के सम्बन्ध में पुलिस द्वारा की जा रही कार्यवाही के सम्बन्ध में #SPRA_SRR की #बाईट @Uppolice @adgzonemeerut pic.twitter.com/Mwp6d7RxSy
On being released, they approached the police and filed a complaint. “They started gathering more people, claiming that we were speaking to a Hindu man. Soon, we were surrounded by over a dozen men. I was also slapped,” the victim said.
A case was registered by the police under Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita Sections 115-2 (voluntarily causing hurt), Sections 352 (intentional insult), and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act.
SP (rural) Sagar Jain informed, “We have lodged an FIR…We have arrested Mehtab and are identifying the remaining men with the help of the video which was circulated online.”
