Three madrasa students sustained injuries after they were allegedly roughed up by a group of men for refusing to say ‘Jai Mata ki’ and ‘Bharat Mata ki jai’ at a park in outer Delhi’s Begam Pur area.
Mohammad Dilkash (18), who broke an arm during the attack, said that five men who were consuming alcohol in a public park beat them with sticks after demanding the students to chant the slogan.
The victims who study at a local madrasa had visited the park during their break.
While no arrests have been made yet, police have registered an FIR three days after the incident on charges of assault and wrongful restraint. They had earlier recorded the victims’ statements and said they were verifying certain details. The police said the victims had initially told them that they were asked to chant ‘Jai Mata ki’. The students have identified two of the attackers namely Pintu and Sahil who live in the neighbourhood.
According to a report in the Indian Express (IE), Dilkash told the newspaper that he and his friends Ajmal and Naeem were walking at the park at the time of the assault.
“My friends and I had gone to Bans Wala Park, some 300 metres from the madrasa, when we were attacked by a group of young men. They spotted us because we were wearing caps and asked us to say Jai Mata Ki,” he told the IE.
Deputy Commissioner of police Vikramjit Singh told IE that a case was registered on Tuesday under sections 323 (causing hurt), 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 34 of the Indian Penal Code at the Begum Pur police station.
“We were waiting for the medico-legal report. The case was registered on the basis of Dilkash’s complaint as he had suffered a fracture. In their complaint, he mentioned that he and his friends were forced to say Jai Mata Ki,” said Singh.
