A routine trip to buy groceries turned into an alleged assault for a 12-year-old boy and his uncle in Lucknow on the night of September 21, when he was reportedly stopped by a group of Hindu youths during a neighborhood jagran. The boy, a resident of Badi Kali Mandir Chowk, was allegedly forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram” before his 33-year-old uncle, Mohd Sufiyan, went to the spot after learning about the incident. Sufiyan has alleged that he too was assaulted and severely beaten. The incident took place as residents in the neighborhood were observing a Hindu jagran, an all-night prayer vigil involving bhajans and aarti.
Sufiyan and his nephew have alleged that the assault followed a dispute during the religious gathering. They have also alleged that the boy was targeted first while he was returning after purchasing groceries.
“I was returning with my belongings when these people approached me and asked me to give them cigarettes. I refused, after which they told me to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram.’ I refused again and told them to speak to my family if they had any issue. That was when they started beating me,” the boy told FoEJ Media.
“About 200–250 people started following me all the way to my house,” he added.
“I was not at home when this happened. I received a call and was on my way back home when they started beating me. I asked them what had happened, but they did not listen to me and just kept beating me,” Sufiyan said.
“They beat me so badly that I fell to the ground. Then, thinking that I had died, they said, ‘Come on, the job is done,” he added.
“They keep doing one thing or another. Sometimes they urinate on the mosque, and sometimes they do other things. If we tell them not to urinate here, they say, ‘We will do it right here,” he alleged.
“We have been subjected to torture and targeted for the past five to six years because we are Muslims,” the family members said.
“The police do not listen to us either,” they added.
“We were so frightened that day that we locked the gate tightly to prevent them from entering the house,” Sufiyan said.
“Stones were thrown at our houses and the mosque, causing extensive damage,” he added.
Following Sufiyan’s complaint, the Chowk police registered an FIR naming Ashu, Vikas, Ashish, Anand, and Mohit, along with 200–300 unidentified persons. The accused were booked under Sections 191(2) for rioting, 115(2) for voluntarily causing hurt, 351(3) for criminal intimidation, 352 for assault or criminal force, and 324(2) for mischief under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Sufiyan, however, has alleged that the police handling of the case was biased. He raised concerns over how his complaint was registered, how his statement was recorded, and the sections ultimately included in the FIR. According to Sufiyan, the manner in which the complaint was documented did not fully reflect the circumstances and allegations he had reported. He has questioned whether the police adequately recorded his account of the alleged assault and the events that preceded it.
“They told us to remove certain things while we were filing the complaint,” Sufiyan said.
The family said they are the only Muslim household in the Hindu-dominated locality, which is home to around 1,000-1,200 Hindu families.
“We are the only Muslim household here, and there is also a mosque. They want us to leave the area, which is why they are doing all this,” the family said.
“We are targeted for being Muslims,” the family said.
