Meerut: Woman abused, manhandled by police for having relationship with Muslim

A disturbing video came to light in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut, a woman is seen being manhandled and abused by a Police constable while another asked her why she chose a Muslim man over Hindus? The video went viral in no time after being uploaded on social media, in which the four Policemen are seen manhandling the woman, who had rescued her from a mob attack.

According to the report, four Policemen who are seen in the video have reportedly been suspended. The video itself was shot by a cop in the driver’s seat. In the video, the victim is seen sitting in between a woman and a male constable.

A policeman can be heard saying, “You prefer Muslims when there are so many Hindus around.” At this point, the woman constable starts slapping the young woman and removes the scarf that she used to cover her face. The beating continues throughout the journey till they reach the destination. While beating the woman, the woman constable is seen smiling. 

The cop shared the video with one of his colleagues, but it went viral and reached to media. The incident took place on Sunday, when the woman and her Muslim partner were attacked by a group of men, said to be from the right-wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).  They barged into the man’s home, manhandled the couple and handed them over to the police. Both the woman and the man are medical students, and believed to be in their twenties. 

The attackers accused the two of ‘love jihad’, a term usually used by right-wing groups to describe a relationship between a Hindu woman and a Muslim man. The video was shot when the police were taking the couple to the police station in separate vehicles.

“The police had absolutely no business in doing what they did. That’s why we have suspended them. We have initiated a probe and will take further action based on the findings of the report,”  Kumar Ranvijay Singh, a senior police officer in Meerut told NDTV.

Despite reaching the Police station the harassment did not stop there, the VHP men surrounded the couple and abused them. Additional police force had to be called in to control the situation. “We were hoping we would get a written complaint from the couple. But we haven’t,” Mr Singh quoted by NDTV as saying. 

Also read: Delhi police suspends cop whose son thrashed woman in viral video