MP: Muslim Man-Hindu Woman Dragged Off Train by Hindu Extremists, No Action

"They were like relatives and have known each other for the last decade," the police said about the boy and girl.

On the night of Friday,14 January, two people a Muslim man and a Hindu woman, travelling together, were dragged out of an AC coach of the train at Ujjain railway station by members of Bajrang Dal. The man was beaten by the Hindu extremists who pulled them down alleging ‘Love Jihad’.

Two days later a video went viral with captions like “ek aur love jihad hone se pehle hi Bajrang dal walon ne Shadishuda Abdul ko rangey haath pakad liya".

The man beaten was identified as one Atif Sheikh, resident of Indore, who owns a small electronic shop, and the woman, also a resident of Indore, is a teacher in a private school. The police made them sit in the police station and were released only after their parents came to the station.

What Did The Police Say?

Responding to questions from the press, Nivedita Gupta, Superintendent of Police, Railway, Ujjain said she got the information from social media and has enquired about the same to the concerned police station.

“Both the girl and the boy knew each other. They were like relatives and have known each other for the last decade. They were released after the enquiry. Since both, the man and woman, didn’t want to pursue any legal actions there was no further action taken by us on anyone.”

Nivedita Gupta.

The Quint traced one of the men Pintu Kaushal who is seen thrashing the Muslim man in the viral video. Pintu Kaushal told The Quint, “This man, was about 30-years-old and he was married and father to a child. He has persuaded the girl who was an accountant in a school and both of them were going to Ajmer where they had planned to marry the next day.

“We were informed by our fellow workers about them and so we reached the station where we caught them from Bhopal-Jaipur express’s B1 coach. They were sitting in berth no 13-14 before we nabbed them. After some enquiry, we submitted them to the Government Railway Police Station, Ujjain and requested them to take appropriate actions,” Pintu added.

Pintu Kaushal, District coordinator of Bajrang Dal and VHP.

'Your One Misunderstanding Has Ruined My Life'

In another viral video the woman can be heard questioning the Bajrang Dal members on why they were making videos of her without consent.

“Your one misunderstanding has ruined my life. You are clicking photos, making videos at least ask me. I am an adult and I know what’s right or wrong. I am professionally a teacher and I teach students of classes 11 and 12.”

The Woman in a Viral Video.