A 12th-grade Muslim student, Ali Ahmed, was arrested in Assam’s Cachar district on Friday, shortly after being brutally assaulted by a mob-linked to Hindutva groups who accused him of ‘love jihad.’ The arrest, made under the POCSO Act, followed a complaint filed by the family of his Hindu classmate, whom he had met near a higher secondary school in Narsinghpur earlier that morning.
When Ali and his classmate were speaking, a group of youngsters from the Hindu community approached them and enquired about his name. Upon knowing his religious identity, the boy alleged that they started to beat him.
“They enquired my name and when I said Ali Ahmed, they started to hit me. There were 15-20 of them. I don’t know who they were,” Ali told the media.
“Many others followed later,” he added.
The Police confirmed that two youths from the mob were in fact, his classmates.
In a video that went viral on social media, Ali is shirtless and tied to a pole and in another video, he seemed to be bleeding as he was dragged with a rope and paraded in front of a crowd with his hands tied to the rope. He is also seen begging the mob that there isn’t any love angle. The mob also assaulted the girl and shouted at her to show her face for the video.
After the assault, the family of the boy filed a complaint. The police have interrogated one minor so far and no arrests have been made.
“Girl denied the claims of a relationship and said that they were classmates in class 10.” said a police officer.
Speaking to the Scroll, Cachar Superintendent of Police, Numal Mahatta said, “The boy was arrested based on the girl’s statement under POCSO charges.”
Another police official said that earlier, the boy introduced himself to the girl with a different (non-Muslim) name and had sent her an “obscene” video on WhatsApp.
According to Ali’s uncle, the situation worsened after the intervention of Bajrang Dal, a Hindutva group. “Ali was arrested after pressure was put on police by Bajrang Dal. Although my nephew is clearly seen badly injured in the videos, the police haven’t arrested anyone yet.”
The Union Home Ministry told the parliament that Indian law doesn’t include any provision for Love Jihad. “Love jihad” a conspiracy theory widely talked about, popularised by Hindutva groups that Muslim men lure Hindu Women into relationships to later convert them to Islam.
On August 4, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that soon, laws will be passed directing life imprisonment pertaining to “love jihad” cases.
