A Muslim family was allegedly harassed by a group playing Holi in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor district and a video of the incident surfaced online leading to widespread condemnation of the incident.
A video surfaced on social media on Sunday, March 24.
According to reports, the group contained mostly minor boys. The Bijnor police arrested one person in connection to the incident.
What happened?
According to the senior superintendent of police (SSP), the video was shot on March 23. The family consisting of a man and two women, one being elderly, were on their way to the pharmacy in their two-wheeler when the group intercepted them.
The group poured coloured water on the women and blackened the face of the man and the elderly woman of the family without their consent.
As they protested, the men argued that Holi was an ancient festival. “Main Bazaar mein ayio tho yehi hoga (If you come to the Main Bazaar, this is what will happen),” one of them is heard saying.
At last, the group let go of the family amongst chants of ‘Hara Har Mahadev’ and ‘Jai Shri Ram’.
What did the police say?
After the video went viral, the Bijnor police took action and arrested one person, Annu Shishupal Verma and three minors were taken into custody.
A case has been registered under sections 147 (Punishment for rioting), 341 (Punishment for wrongful restraint), 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 354 (Assault or criminal force to a woman) of the Indian Penal Code.
“The Bijnor Police has taken cognisance of a video that is going viral on social media. In this viral video, a few men are harassing and forcefully applying colours on a family that was going on a motorcycle. The Bijmor Police is identifying these men with the help of CCTV footage,” senior superintendent of police (SSP) Bijnor Neeraj Jaduan said in a video on X.
