Muslim Family Attacked by Mob, Second Incident in a Week in Haryana

On Friday, March 22, a heartbreaking video went viral on social media showing 20-25 armed people storming into a Muslim house in Dhamaspur village in Bhondsi, Gurugram. They mercilessly thrashed all the family members, along with visiting relatives and asked them go to Pakistan.

According to the FIR, the incident took place around 5 pm on Friday, at the home of Mohammad Sajid, who hails from Uttar Pradesh and has been living there for the last three years with his wife Sameena and six children, reported The Indian Express.

A case was registered against 15 people under IPC sections 148 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 307 (attempt to murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees), 452 (house trespass), and 506 (criminal intimidation) at the Bhondsi police station, Shamsher Singh, the ACP of Gurugram police has confirmed. The incident was reportedly sparked off during a cricket match. The attackers had used spears. batons, swords, iron rods, hockey sticks, and water pipes to beat the family member.

Earlier, on March 18, a father and son in Haryana's Charkhi Dadri were beaten up mercilessly and later forced to shave their beard. Not only that, they were also threatened to be killed for their beard. The victims have been identified as Mohammad Idrees and his son Mohsin who are residents of Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh.

On the fateful day, the duo were going to Sanjarwas village, but when they reached bus stop, suddenly four youth asked their name and attacked them because of their Muslim identity. On the complaint of the local Muslims, police registered a complaint on charges of inciting violence on religious sentiments.

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Talking to NewsClick, Idrees said, “ I had gone to Charkhi Dadri in Haryana with my son Mohsin for work. I make paper cups. Jai Bhagwan helped us to get the work. Four days after completing our work, we were returning to our home in Khurja. When we reached the bus stop, 4-5 people came to us and asked our name and profession. When we told them, they started questioning us about our beards and said that we look like Pakistani and terrorists. We even gave our Aadhar card to them showing that we are Indians but they did not listen and asked us to come to a saloon where they forced us to shave our beard. They also physically assaulted both of us."

"When they attacked us, we called up Jai Bhagwan but due to rain he reached late to the spot where the incident took place. When he reached, they fled," Idrees told NewsClick.

Surendra Parmar, ex sarpanch of Sanjarwas village and member of Bharatiya Janata Party told NewsClick, "The incident took place on March 14 at Achina village and the people who assaulted them are from Phogat village. I came to know about the incident at the police station. I have asked the SHO to take action them. The SHO has given three days time to the accused to apologise otherwise an FIR will be filed. The victims are from Bulandshahr and they will come today to the police station and whatever they demand, the police will take action accordingly.”

Also See: Titoli, Haryana: Where Muslims Live in Fear of Being Lynched

 This is not the first time when such incidents against Muslims have been reported in Haryana. Last year, Titoli village had been in the news for a controversial 'farman' issued by the village sarpanch. The diktat had prohibited the Muslim communities from wearing skull caps and keeping beards, as NewsClick had previously reported.

Similarly, on July 31, three men were arrested for allegedly assaulting, abusing and shaving a Muslim man’s beard in Gurugram. Jaffruddin, a resident of Haryana’s Mewat region, had come to Gurugram to meet his friend. The accused took him to a saloon and shaved his beard.

This is the fear affecting the everyday life of Muslims in Haryana.