In two separate instances, Hindu men travelling with Muslim women were stopped and assaulted by mobs in Hyderabad. In both cases, the Hyderabad police booked those who assaulted the men and were on the lookout for others who were part of the mob.
The first incident was reported on Friday under the Golconda police station limits. Mohammad Rafi, a painter by profession stopped two students who were classmates travelling on a bike. Rafi stopped the couple, questioned them and sought their credentials. He also asked them to call their families. A few other bystanders also joined Rafi and the mob harassed the couple, said the Golconda police to Deccan Chronicle. Rafi was subsequently arrested by the Golconda police and upon questioning said that he stopped the couple to avoid issues in the Old city of Hyderabad.
The second incident took place at Nampally of Hyderabad at around 2 pm on Sunday. The incident came to light on Monday when video footage of the young man and woman on a two-wheeler being stopped went viral. The video footage shows the man being questioned for travelling with a Muslim woman wearing a hijab.
P Vishwaprasad, the Central zone Deputy commissioner of Police (DCP) told TNM that the couple were from Vijayawada and were close family friends, "The man is doing his MBA in Hyderabad and the woman got admission in another college. Her mother had sent her with him to submit certificates at the college". While heading back to Yousufguda, the duo was stopped by a yet to be identified man at Bazaar Ghat traffic signal under the Nampally police station limits, "A few more people gathered and slapped him. The woman was asked to go home in an autorickshaw. The man was threatened and then let off," the officer added.
No complaints were filed in this instance initially. The Nampally police, after being alerted about the video of the incident going viral on social media, traced the man using his two-wheelers registration number.
He had by then returned back to Vijayawada and refused to file a complaint, reported the newspaper. The police however collected their statement and booked a case suo moto. The case is still under investigation and those who were part of the mob are yet to be unidentified.
Other than the two incidents in Hyderabad, a third incident was reported on September 8, when a man from the Hindu faith travelling with a Muslim woman was stopped in the Nizamabad district. The man was physically assaulted and the woman was abused for travelling with a man of a different faith. The duo were colleagues from IIIT Basara and were heading to a government hospital to collect medical documents for salary purposes. In this instance, the Nizamabad police had booked a case against the four men who were part of the mob.
A case in the third instance was booked under Section 295A, for deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs and under Section 365 for kidnapping in the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Sections under the SC/ST (Prevention of atrocities) Act were also booked against the accused. Police are still on the lookout for two more men who were part of this mob.