Gurugram Man Forced to Remove Skull Cap and Chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’

The incident took place when Barkat was returning from his shop after offering namaz.

A Muslim man was allegedly beaten by a group of men in Gurugram on the night of Friday, 25 May while he was returning after offering namaz.

(Photo: ANI)

A Muslim man was allegedly beaten by a group of men in Gurugram on the night of Friday, 25 May while he was returning after offering namaz. The man, identified as Barkat Ali was allegedly told to remove his skullcap and chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’.

“I was returning after offering namaz. A few men came on a bike said that wearing a skull cap is not allowed in the area. When I refused to take off my cap, they abused me and beat me,” Barkat told The Quint.

The incident took place when Barkat was returning from his shop around 10 pm after offering prayers at Jama Masjid in Gurugram.

Barkat said that some people took him to a nearby hospital where the police recorded his statement. He was then taken to the police station where an FIR was filed against unknown persons.

Barkat said that he tried to escape, but the men held him and tore his kurta as well.

“An FIR was registered. The police have not been able to identify them yet, as it was dark and their faces cannot be recognised in the CCTV footage,” he said.

Barkat, who hails from Begusarai, had come to Gurugram just 15-20 days ago to learn tailoring.

Victim Hasn’t Mentioned ‘Chants’ While Filing Complaint: Gurugram Police

Subhash Boken, the PRO for Gurugram police told The Quint that it’s a matter of road rage and that Barkat did not mention about being forced to chant any slogans while filing the complaint.

“He was slapped by some people 2-3 times in the market of Sadar Bazaar. This happened at around 10 pm in the night,” said Boken.

When asked if the youth was forced to chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Jai Shri Ram,’ he said that no such instance has been mentioned by Barkat while registering the FIR.

“Nothing as such has happened, neither has he mentioned any such thing while registering the complaint. If people are saying any such thing, I don’t know, but what has been reported is just this,” he said.

“The FIR was filed last night under sections 147 (Punishment for rioting), 149 (Every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) of the IPC.”

Boken said that the culprits have not been identified yet since Barkat did not remember the bike numbers. “We are trying to identify the culprits from the CCTV footage from nearby shops but it’s difficult since it was dark. The shops nearby had also closed,” he said.