Priest Bajrang Muni Booked For Threatening To Rape Muslim Women In Viral Video

After six days of making hate speech and threatening to rape Muslim women before a crowd of men dressed in saffron-colour clothes, the Uttar Pradesh police finally charged priest Bajrang Muni Das. He was booked yesterday, while he made the speech on April 2. The First Information Report (FIR) was lodged after the video had gone viral and netizens had tagged the National Commission for Women (NCW) and other establishments.

The Sitapur superintendent of police RP Singh told the news media that the FIR has been registered against the priest under the charges of sexual harassment through words, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman. He has also been charged for uttering words with the intention to hurt the religious sentiments of others.

Singh also informed that the probe against the speech has been ordered and it will be led by a DSP-rank officer. Informing the press about details on the accused, an unnamed police officer said that Bajrang Muni is the manager of Kamaal Sarai Sangat in Khairabad. He was transferred to this place one and a half years ago. The police officer said that this is not his first time making controversial statements, he has done it in the past as well.

Suggested Reading: Priest Issues Rape Threat Against Muslim Women In Sitapur: 10 Things To Know

Bajrang Muni Booked

After the FIR was registered, the priest reportedly apologised for the remarks made by him. The NCW had also taken cognisance of the matter and sought the arrest of the accused. They tweeted, "NCW has taken a serious note of the incident and condemns the statement made by the accused. Chairperson Rekha Sharma has written to the UP DGP to immediately intervene and lodge an FIR against the accused. NCW has also sought the arrest of the accused at the earliest."

Talking to ANI, Rekha Sharma had said, "Women are their target, whether it is Hindu threatening Muslims or Muslims threatening Hindus. Though we're taking such complaints again and again and taking them up with police, it seems cases aren't decreasing."

Sitapur Hate Speech

A hundred kilometres away from Lucknow is the Sitapur district in Uttar Pradesh. In a disturbing video being circulated online, a Hindu priest was shown threatening to kidnap and rape Muslim women. He was addressing a crowd of men--of all ages--dressed in saffron colour clothes.

After this statement by the priest, the already excited crowd went berserk with the shouts of Jai Shree Ram. The video was shared by the co-founder of AltNews, which is a fact-checking website, Mohammed Zubair on Twitter.

The incident allegedly took place on April 2 and the Uttar Pradesh police said that they are investigating the case against the local Mahant of the small town called Khariabad. The incident unfolded near a mosque.

The accused was sitting inside the car and spreading hate using a microphone to address the crowd. He had also alleged that Rs 28 lakh has been collected for the purpose of killing him. He then went on to say that if any Muslim man harasses a Hindu girl in the area, then he would kidnap Muslim women and publicly rape them. In another video of the same incident, four cops are visible in the frame, out of which three are in the car.