"I was born in Mira-Bhayandar. Generations of my father's family have lived here. We have been in that same locality (Naya Nagar) even at 12:00 am or 1:00 am sometimes. We have taken that road so many times. Nothing untoward has ever happened before this. Hence, we did not imagine that a (Ram) flag on a car would cause problems to anybody," said Sunaina Gupta (33), a housewife and a mother of a 12-year-old boy.
On the night of 21 January, a night ahead of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, Sunaina's video of her trying to battle a mob of men with a bleeding head went viral on social media.
Communal tensions flared up in Naya Nagar after a Pran Pratishtha rally was allegedly attacked on Sunday night, leading to violence that continued for the next two days.
"Many are claiming that we were a part of a rally. Many are also claiming that we had set out on a march with 30-40 people. There is no truth to any of it. We were just friends, family, and kids," Sunaina claimed.
'We Were Looking for an Empty Road': What Unfolded on Sunday Night
In the video gone viral on social media, Sunaina can be seen pushing a few men while standing next to her scooter, while a car behind her was being attacked by some other men.
"We had all set out for a drive with the kids. We just wanted to take pictures of any celebrations outside. We had flags on our cars like everybody did. There was traffic near the Mira Road McDonalds on both sides of the road, so we turned to an empty road instead. We were then crossing through Naya Nagar and I crossed the whole area and came out of the other side with my husband riding pillion."
"Nothing had happened till then. The cars were behind us. My brother and my brother-in-law were in it. They called to tell that they have been surrounded and are being beaten. We rode back and saw that a mob was beating up our family members in the car. We somehow managed to rescue them and they escaped in one of the gullies leaving the vehicle behind," Sunaina added.
Sunaina alleged that while her husband returned, the mob broke the flagpole attached to her scooter and kept kicking her bike which was fallen on the road.
"After that, I started searching for my husband and my son. By the time my husband came back, they threatened me. They said things like, 'Why are you here? Are you trying to tease us with the flags? You should leave the area'," she claimed.
"Some of them pulled my hair and hurled abuses at my son. They continued it for a while," she said.
"Some men tried to grab my husband and that is when I started pushing them. My son pointed out that I was bleeding on the forehead. My son said that he will run in the direction of our house and he ran away with the flag," Sunaina added.
'Wouldn't Have Taken Kids If We Knew': Second Female Attacked by Mob
Anjana (29), Sunaina's younger sister, was in another car which was allegedly attacked by another group of men.
"They attacked the car with rods and sticks. There's a Hanuman sticker on the car's back. They were saying things like 'why did we come here, what are we trying to show.' My window was open but my door was locked. They were trying to grab my hand from the window. My brother-in-law has a knife injury on his face," Anjana alleged.
"We had no idea there were any tensions in the area. If we know, why would we have entered the area with kids? Till that point we had no idea that anything untoward is happening there," Anjana said.
"We all got scattered eventually. There are many trying to claim that we were 30-40 people carrying out a march. There's no truth to it. There were four people from my sister's family, four people from my family, there was a friend and his daughter, and our neighbour and his daughter. In all there were seven kids with us. At the end, my sister was somewhere else, my daughter was with someone else. This ordeal lasted 10-15 minutes. We just escaped from whichever gully we found around us," Anjana claimed.
'Yet To Confirm Claims': Police
Vinod Jaiswal, a neighbour of the Guptas who was also accompanying them, registered an FIR which is yet to be handed over to them. Jaiswal, too, has a knife injury on his face.
Speaking to The Quint, DCP Jayant Bhajbale from the Naya Nagar police station said that several people have been arrested in the incident and investigation is underway.
"About 20 people have been arrested in this incident so far. They had set out to celebrate. They were with kids. They claim that they entered the Naya Nagar area due to traffic on other roads. It is still a matter of investigation whether they are associated with any organisation or shouted any slogans," Bhajbale said.
He further said that total 29 people have been arrested so far from Naya Nagar over rioting and 12 FIRs have been filed across four police stations so far. Two of the FIRs pertain to provocative posts on social media.
The Mira-Bhayandar-Vasai-Virar (MBVV) police had earlier said that the first clash in the locality flared up after some bikers allegedly shouted religious slogans outside the Taini Masjid and Mohammed Masjid in Naya Nagar. After they turned in another lane with a dead end, that also had a mosque, they were allegedly attacked by locals who thought that the bikers were trying to enter the mosque.
That was the first incident of violence that took place on 21 January.
Locals told The Quint that violence flared in several parts of the locality after some boys of the Muslim community posted videos on social media that showed the bikers retreating.
Several incidents of shops and cars being attacked then took place.
Why Violence Spilled Over for Two More Days
Videos being circulated of the first clash, provocative comments and posts by both communities on social media, and local leaders adding fuel to the fire have been cited as some of the reasons behind the tensions continuing for the next two days.
On Monday, the day of the Ayodhya temple inauguration, an incident of stone pelting was reported with members of both communities involved.
On Tuesday, the situation escalated further after shops and vehicles of Muslims were being targeted by mobs in Mira Road.
The Quint spoke to a Muslim plastic items dealer whose tempo was seen being attacked by a mob chanting 'Jai Shri Ram' in a viral video. While his son, who was driving the vehicle, was injured due to blows from the sticks, one of his employees received seven stitches on the head.
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