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A Muslim man has alleged that he and his family were beaten up by a mob in Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara district over their religious identity, and also accused the police of wrongly quoting him in the First Information Report (FIR).
Wajid Ali (23), his father Layak Ali, and his mother were attacked by a mob in the district's Auriya village on 15 September. However, the police intervened and took the victims to the local hospital. They were later referred to the district hospital in Chhindwara.
Speaking to The Quint, Wajid Ali said that his parents and he were going to meet one of his sisters when the incident occurred.
"We were going to meet my sister when the people from Auriya village stopped us and started beating my parents. I was also thrashed. Had the police not come in time, they would have killed us," he said.
Wajid Ali.
(Photo: The Quint)
'Victims Had Taken Photo of FIR': Police Denies Allegations
The police, however, has denied the allegation that the family were beaten up over religion and that they were wrongfully quoted in the FIR, saying that the victims had even taken photographs of the statement recorded by the police in the hospital.
They also said that Wajid was in a relationship with a woman from his village and had fled with her a few months back. The woman's family had filed a complaint in the matter, following which the couple was located in Hyderabad and brought back.
The case was then settled between the two parties through a compromise and the woman was sent to live with her maternal uncle in the Auriya village.
"The youth and and his parents had gone to Auriya, where they were identified by the family members of the woman," Kupurda police outpost in charge Dwarka Prasad Pal told The Quint.
Pal added that the family members tried to reason with them, following which a scuffle broke out and the youth and his parents were beaten.
Wajid also confirmed that he was in a relationship with the girl and both had fled and were later nabbed by the police. He, however, claimed that the incident last week had no connection to it as he and his parents were going to meet his sister in Ari village when they were stopped by the villagers.
Meanwhile, a case has been lodged under sections 294 (punishment for obscene acts or words in public, 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on the complaint of the family.
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