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Two Muslim men were assaulted and allegedly forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ by a group of seven to eight individuals in North Bengaluru’s Sampigehalli area on Sunday, June 22. One of the victims, 27-year-old Waseem Ahmed, a mechanic from Hegde Nagar, sustained injuries to his face, ribs, and right ear, according to medical records.
The FIR, based on a complaint by Zameer, a fellow mechanic, stated that the two were travelling to Chokkanahalli via Sampigehalli Main Road when they stopped near an open plot between 4.30 pm and 5.30 pm.
In his complaint, Zameer said he had stopped the auto to relieve himself when he was approached by five to six unknown men. “They asked why we were there. When Waseem questioned them in return, they began abusing and assaulting us,” Zameer said in his complaint. “I managed to escape, but they continued attacking Waseem with a stick. As he shouted ‘Allah’ in fear and pain, they threatened me, demanding that he instead say ‘Jai Shri Ram’.”
Zia Nomani, activist and member of the Law and Policy Research Institute (LAPRI), told TNM that Waseem was too traumatised to file a complaint immediately after the assault. Zia alleged that the Sampigehalli police initially refused to register a complaint when he accompanied Waseem on Tuesday, June 24. However, later that day, the police themselves took Waseem to the General Hospital in Yelahanka, where doctors recorded that he had sustained injuries to the ribs and face, swelling above the right elbow, and hearing impairment in his right ear.
The Sampigehalli police registered a case under Sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 118(1) (voluntarily causing hurt by means of any instrument for shooting, stabbing or cutting), 299 (deliberate and malicious intention of outraging religious feelings), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and 351(2) (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.