Blind, old Muslim man assaulted, forced to chant Jai Shri Ram

NT Correspondent

Koppal: An FIR was registered at a local Town Police station in Gangavati in Koppal district on Thursday after a 65-year-old blind Muslim man complained to the police that he had been abducted, assaulted and forced to chant “Jai Shree Ram” (victory to lord Ram) slogans by motorcycle-borne hooligans.

The victim Hussain sab, now hospitalized, said in his FIR that the incident occurred this past Monday night when he had returned from Hosapete.

He narrated that he was having some tea while waiting for an autorickshaw when two men on motorcycles approached him and offered to drop him home.

Hussain said that after he had boarded one of the motorcycles, the duo abused him verbally and started hitting him and then took him to a remote area in Pampanagar and pushed him off the vehicle. The victim added that the hooligans then forced him to chant “Jai Shree Ram”.

He added that they also broke a beer bottle on his head, tried to cut his beard with a shattered piece of glass and when they had no luck, they then set his beard on fire with a matchstick.

The victim said that he feared death until a few shepherds heard his cries of pain came to his rescue and drove the hooligans away. Police said that they had been going through CCTV footage and speaking with witnesses.

Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) members said that they would foot the hospital bill of Hussain sab and stage protests against the assault.