Muslim girl forced to remove burqa in Bhopal: A girl was hounded by a mob in the Islam Nagar area of Bhopal on suspicion that she was riding pillion on a scooter driven by a Hindu man. The girl was forced to remove her burqa and reveal her identity, while the person recording the incident told her that she was bringing disgrace to "our community".
A video of the incident has since gone viral on social media. In the video, while the boy travelling with the girl tries to pacify the mob, the man recording the video persists and asks her to remove her burqa. As she opens the buttons of her burqa, he then comments, "Oho, jeans me hain."
Once the girl complies and removes her burqa, the man then asks her to remove her niqaab as well, at this point the boy accompanying the girl gets on the scooter, asking the mob to stop harassing them, ready to drive off. The person recording the video can be heard repeatedly heard saying, "Aap hamari kaum ko badnaam kar rahi hain."
A woman was riding scooter with a man when some people stopped them on a narrow street in Islam Nagar, Bhopal and asked her to remove the hijab that she was wearing. Its is suspected that the people believed the man was Hindu and the girl Muslim. #SickMentality pic.twitter.com/CqPWOMqEn8
— Karan Pal (@karanktbd) October 16, 2021
RS Verma, the police station in-charge of Intkhedi area in the city confirmed the incident, "A youth and the girl arrived in Islam Nagar in the afternoon. Some people stopped them and asked the girl to take off her burkha and show her face," further adding that the mob took the step on suspicion that the man was Hindu and the girl Muslim.
He further said that no case has been registered in the matter so far since neither the girl nor the boy has filed an official complaint. However, police held two people, seen in the video, under Section 151 ( joining/continuing assembly of five or more persons with intent to cause disruption)of the Indian Penal Code. They were let off subsequently with a warning to not repeat this behaviour.
Last week in Madhya Pradesh, four college students were arrested at a Garba event in Indore, after a right-wing outfit accused them of creating a public nuisance and promoting "love jihad". Read more about it here.
Image Credit: The News Minute
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