Video Producer: Shohini Bose
Video Editors: Karuna Mishra, Mohd Irshad Alam
The Railway Police on Wednesday, 16 August, filed a First Information Report (FIR) under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for rioting and unlawful assembly, a day after a video of a mob thrashing a minor Muslim boy at Mumbai's Bandra Terminus went viral on social media.
In a shocking video, the mob can be seen assaulting the boy after he was seen with a minor Hindu girl who was reported kidnapped by her family.
The incident took place on 21 July when the boy and the girl, hailing from Thane's Ambarnath, were traced by the girl's family at Bandra terminus. However, the video suddenly went viral on 15 August.
While the girl is confirmed to be 16 years old, the exact age of the boy is yet unclear. It also remains unclear how the two knew each other.
What the Video Shows
In the videos that went viral on Tuesday, the mob can be seen thrashing the boy and chanting 'Jai Shri Ram' and slogans against 'love jihad'.
The girl, wearing a burqa, can be seen pleading with the men to not attack the boy but they tell her to keep quiet.
The men then dragged the boy out of the railway station and handed him over to the Nirmal Nagar police station in Bandra.
What the Kidnapping Complaint by Girl's Family Claims
In the complaint accessed by The Quint, the minor's 22-year-old brother said that the girl left home at 4:30 pm after informing both parents that she was heading to her computer education class but did not return till 7:00 pm.
After her parents spoke to her friends and other family members, they decided to approach the police for help.
The Thane police filed filed a complaint under Section 363 (punishment for kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against an unknown person.
What Are the Assaulters Being Charged With?
Speaking to The Quint, DCP Government Railway Police (GRP), Sandip Bhajibhakare said that an FIR was registered in the case of the assault after speaking to the boy's father.
"Their identities can be ascertained only once the investigation begins. We had not received any complaint about the boy being thrashed till the video surfaced. We are taking action after the video went viral on Tuesday," he said.
Reports suggest that a few family members of the girl reached Bandra Terminus with a few men after tracing them.
"In light of the letter received from Nirmal Nagar police station and the video that went viral on social media on 15.08.2023, an enquiry and investigation was launched against unknown persons in the incident on 21.7.2023 in which a minor boy was assaulted at the Bandra Terminus following unlawful assembly and objectionable sloganeering," the Bandra GRP said in a statement.
The FIR has been registered under the following sections of the IPC:
Section 141 (unlawful assembly)
Section 142 (being member of unlawful assembly)
Section 143 (punishment for unlawful assembly)
Section 146 (rioting)
Section 147 (punishment for rioting)
Section149 (member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object)
Section 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt)
(With inputs from Alim Shaikh and Nazia Sayed.)
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