Claim Of ‘Thrashed For Not Chanting Jai Shri Ram' Busted: Man Now In Jail For Molestation After Woman's Complaint

Confirming the initial findings of the police that the man who claimed last week that he was beaten up in train for not chanting 'Jai Shri Ram' was actually beaten up for molestation, a woman has filed a case against the man.

The woman has told the police and the media that Asim Hussain put his hand on her chest in the train, which enraged fellow passengers. Watch her statement here.

The Case

Last week, a video of a man being stripped and thrashed by two other men in a train went viral on social media, which can be watched here.

It is pertinent to mention that the viral clip only shows Hussain being thrashed and there is no mention of any religious slogan, to the best knowledge of this portal.

It was later revealed that the man being thrashed was Asim Hussain (45), a brass dealer from Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh, who was travelling in Padmavat Express that runs from New Delhi to Pratapgarh.

The incident happened when the train was between Hapur and Moradabad.

On his complaint the next day, Moradabad railway police filed a case against the two men, identified as Satish Kumar and Suraj Kumar, under IPC sections 298 (uttering words with an intent to hurt religious feelings), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 392 (punishment for robbery), 504 (intentionally insulting) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

As per this report by Hindustan, Hussain was accompanied by Haji Waqi Rasheed, who is Moradabad head of Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) party, when giving the complaint.

A day later, that is on 14 January, the Moradabad railway police issued a statement from their official Twitter account. Devi Dayal, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of Moradabad railway police, said that the police did not find evidence of Hussain being beaten up for not chanting 'Jai Shri Ram'.

The officer said that instead, it had come to light that Hussain might have molested a woman in the train, enraging fellow passengers. He added that if a complainant came forward, they would look into the molestation angle.

Watch the officer's statement here.

Twist In The Case

Now, a woman has indeed come forward and filed a case against Hussain in Moradabad.

On Tuesday, the woman came to Moradabad from Shahjahanpur district and complained of molestation by Hussain. She said that during the train journey, Hussain called her ‘daughter’, made her sit beside her but touched her chest.

She said no religious slogans were mentioned in the scuffle between Hussain and other passengers that followed.

The Moradabad railway police posted news clippings of the woman’s complaint and prompt arrest of Hussain, which can be seen here.

Similar False Claims

This incident is yet another addition to the list of cases where people from the Muslim community have been found making false allegations that they were beaten up for not chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’.

In June 2021, Altnews’s co-founder Mohammed Zubair posted a muted video on Twitter of a man being beaten up and his beard chopped off. Zubair claimed that the man was Muslim and was beaten up while being forced to chant 'Jai Shri Ram'.

Later, police revealed that the attackers included Muslim men and the reason of the attack was personal enmity and not religion. Both sides knew each other well and did business together.

Zubair then deleted his post and admitted in public that "the victim's version of him being forced to chant 'Jai Shri Ram' at this point in time do not seem to add up based on my conversations with police authorities and other journalists reporting on this issue".

An FIR was later filed against Zubair for spreading communally sensitive false information.

The same year, Haryana Police ruled out any communal angle in the murder of a man named Asif Khan from Mewat district after some publications including Maktoob Media reported that Asif was killed in a hate crime and he was forced to chant 'Jai Shri Ram'.

The same year, communal tensions erupted in Bhainsa town of Telangana when 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans were found written on a mosque. It led to anti-Hindu violence in the area. After probe, police said that the slogans were written by two Muslim boys, one of whom was a minor, for mischief. 

In 2019, a Muslim man named Barkat gave a complaint to the police that he was harassed by unknown bike-borne men who told him that skull caps were not allowed in the area. The next day, as Muslim organisations protested against the issue, Barkat said that the men had also asked him to chant 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans.

A week later, Gurugram Police Commissioner Mohammad Akil held a press conference and said that many of Barkat's allegations did not match with his statement in the FIR as well as with the footage obtained from CCTV cameras.

The officer said that Barkat did not mention the bit about 'Jai Shri Ram' in his original complaint, and he might have been “tutored” to say it.