A video of the incident has gone viral.
New Delhi:
Bittu Bajrangi, who is on bail after being arrested for violence in Haryana’s Nuh last year, was caught on camera beating up a man with a stick while others from his cow watch group held him down. In the video, which has now gone viral, a police officer can be seen standing within arm’s reach of the man but remaining a mute spectator.
The police have not yet filed a report.
Police officials said the video is from April 1 and the man who was thrashed is a resident of Sarurpur in Faridabad. The man, Shamu, was accused of luring two girls from his neighborhood to his house by offering them chocolates and locals suspected he planned to sexually abuse them. Some of his neighbors rushed into the house and grabbed Shamu.
News of the incident spread and members of Bajrangi’s cow vigilante group, Goraksha Bajrang Force, reached the spot and took Shamu to their leader’s house in Faridabad’s Sanjay enclave. The video from outside Bajrangi’s house shows the cow vigilante, who is also a member of Bajrang Dal, holding a stick as other men from his group drag a pleading Shamu along the ground.
A police officer is seen sitting on a chair inches from the man and he stands up but does nothing to intervene. Then a man is heard asking the others to turn Shamu on his side and Bajrangi alias Raj Kumar then hits him at least four times with a stick. Police officials said the mother of one of the girls also hit Shamu with the stick before Bajrangi proceeded to do so.
The officer in charge of Saran police station said, “We have seen the viral video and are looking for the man who was beaten up. After we receive a complaint from him, we will take appropriate action. If we do not receive a complaint from him, we will trace the suspect using the video and social media and take action against him.”
The communal violence in Haryana’s Nuh had broken out in July last year during a procession organized by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and subsequently spread to other areas including Gurugram and Badshahpur. Five people were killed and at least 70 people were injured. A mosque had also been set on fire and a cleric was among the dead.