Painter says targeted with communal slurs in road assault on him, daughter

Ghaziabad: Three suspects were arrested after a fender-bender in the Kotwali area on Monday night escalated into an assault in which three of a family were thrashed and allegedly asked to say ‘Jai Shri Ram’ while the assailants slapped and punched them.The complainant, a painter, alleged that his daughter was molested by the group.

Police said on Tuesday they are investigating the allegations, but hadn't found evidence of a hate crime so far. The painter, however, said he had given police a detailed account and stood by it. According to the complaint, the painter was driving a motorcycle, and his 16-year-old daughter was riding pillion around 10pm when three men in an Alto car tried to overtake their bike but ended up causing a minor collision. The painter’s nephew was travelling on another bike behind them.As they stopped, the three men in the car and some men on another motorcycle started abusing the painter, he told police.“I tried to escape as there were three of them in the car. But they chased me and stopped my bike. They told me to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and when I objected, they pulled my beard. They started beating me up. I received severe injuries to my hand after they attacked me with a knife,” the painter alleged.He added that the suspects told him: “Hindustan mein rehna hai toh Jai Shri Ram kehna hoga (you’ll have to chant Jai Shri Ram if you want to stay in the country’).”He also alleged the assailants told his daughter they would “convert” her.“When my nephew tried to intervene, they beat him up as well. They fled when some people came to our rescue,” he said.DCP (Ghaziabad) Rajesh Kumar said the three men were arrested -- Pappu Kumar (26), Sagar (20) and Sunny Sharma (25), all city residents. An FIR was registered at Kotwali police station under sections 191 (2) (punishment for rioting), 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 351 (criminal intimidation), 137 (kidnapping), 126 (wrongful restraint), 118 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 74 (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of BNS.The DCP said initial investigation suggests it was a case of road rage.“The accused have been arrested and police are trying to identify the other accused who were on another bike. We have seized the Alto and we are scanning CCTV footage of nearby areas. It was a road rage case, but other allegations may be false. Further investigation is underway,” he said.