Bhopal: Tasleem Ali, a 25-year-old bangle seller in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, was the victim of a brutal mob attack on Sunday.
Reports said he was attacked for giving a fake name to pass off as a Hindu. But over 24 hours later, Tasleem became the accused, charged in an FIR with molesting a 13-year-old.
According to the FIR, the girl told the police she did not report the crime for over 28 hours out of “Lok Laaj (public shame)”. However, her version matches that of state Home Minister Narottam Mishra, who spoke seven hours before she went to the police.
“This man was selling bangles after concealing his name, his caste, his father’s name and his religion. I have been told by the administration that he had two Aadhar cards and while selling bangles he misbehaved, which led to his beating,” the minister had told reporters.
Indore Superintendent of Police Ashutosh Bagri claimed that three persons who assaulted the bangle seller were identified from the video of the incident and two of them had been rounded up. One of them is the girl’s father.
An FIR was also registered on the complaint of Tasleem after midnight on Monday, a day after he was beaten. This, even though he went to the police station immediately after the incident on Sunday and two policemen accompanied him to the spot where he was thrashed. Indore Police was unable to explain why Tasleem’s complaint was not registered.
In the viral video, the assailants can be heard saying “slap him (Tasleem) at least once” to “avenge Bombay Bazaar”. (On August 13, two minor girls of the Valmiki community were allegedly molested and their uncle was allegedly thrashed in the Muslim-dominated Bombay Bazaar area).
