English Script: Naman Shah
Video Editors: Mohd Irshad Alam, Pawan Kumar
A right-wing mob on Saturday, 27 August, allegedly vandalised a mosque, raised anti-Muslim slogans and pelted stones at the home of a Muslim man who reportedly fled with a Dalit woman in Madhya Pradesh's Dewas district.
Soon after the man and woman went missing, members of the right-wing groups vandalised the local mosque and damaged the residence of the man along with cars parked outside.
They were caught on camera raising anti-Muslim slogans near the Udaynagar police station, and later met police officials to demand strict action.
The brother of the Dalit woman also filed a complaint against the man, on the basis of which the police filed a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections related to kidnapping.
BJP Leader Assembled the Mob Which Vandalised the Mosque, Says Police
"I and my sister were spraying fertilizers in our field at 2 pm on Friday. At this time, Farzan (20), son of Sajjuddeen, came and called my sister. He took my sister away secretly on his motorcycle. I shouted but there was no one in the forest," the woman's brother alleged.
Meanwhile, the police said that while a case had been filed against the Muslim man for kidnapping, another had been lodged against unidentified right-wing members who vandalised the mosque.
"Both the man and woman studied together till class 12 and were in a relationship since last year. On 26 August, they eloped. The family didn't file an FIR initially and sought help from the BJP leader Bharat Rathor. Bharat then assembled around 100-150 men and force-closed the market. Half of the assembled men reached the police station demanding registration of an FIR while the other half went to the accused's house and vandalised it and also attacked the mosque," Narendra Parihar, police station incharge Udaynagar, Dewas, told The Quint.
Dewas Superintendent of Police (SP) Shivdayal Singh told The Quint that an FIR had been registered under the sections of kidnapping against the man, and another case had been lodged against the men who vandalised the mosque.
"In the case of a Muslim man missing with a Dalit girl, a kidnapping case has been registered after the complaint of the woman's brother. We have also registered a case against some men who vandalised a religious place and pelted stones at the house of the accused."Shivdayal Singh, SP, Dewas
A purported video of the vandalised mosque also went viral on social media on Saturday.
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