Youths thrashed on suspicion of carrying beef in Seoni; 5 held

Two youths were badly thrashed, made to hit an accompanying woman and chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ in Seoni of Madhya Pradesh on the suspicion of carrying beef. 

Videos of the incident, which occurred on May 22, have gone viral on the social media on Thursday night and elicited strong reactions.

While one of the youth and the woman are Muslims, another youth who was beaten up has been identified as Dilip Malviya, police said. 

Superintendent of police (SP) of Seoni, Lalit Shakyawar, told THE WEEK that five persons, including the main accused Shubham Baghel, who also uploaded the video of the incident on his social media account, have been arrested.

Baghel is a self-styled head of the Shri Ram Sena based in Seoni and has been earlier involved beating up of Muslims in the name of cow protection. He was externed from Seoni district last October, but was provided relief this February, sources said. 

Shakyawar told THE WEEK that the incident occurred on May 22, and came to their notice the next day. “The video was uploaded on social media and considering its sensitive nature, it was immediately taken off. Also, five persons, including the main accused Shubham Baghel, have been arrested. Animal meat was found in the vehicle that the victims were using and it has been sent to laboratory for test. One of the victims is named Dilip Malviya. The situation is completely under control and further probe is on,” the officer said. 

The youth and the woman had been accosted in the Duda area just on outskirts of Seoni town on suspicion of carrying beef. The two men were badly beaten up and one of them was also made to beat the woman with footwear and forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ while a number of onlookers watched. 

The two youths—Dilip Malviya and Tausif Khan and the woman, Anjum Ansari—were also arrested under the sections of the Cow Slaughter Act and other sections of IPC, after animal meat was recovered from their vehicle, a police press release said.

Inspector general (IG) of police of Jabalpur range, Vivek Sharma, told THE WEEK that the trio was arrested and sections imposed on the basis of the recovery of meat and their ‘confession’ of it being cattle meat. They have been sent to jail.

“They also revealed during questioning as from where they got the meat. However, the exact nature of the meat would be revealed following the lab test. Investigation is on and we have also made additional security arrangements to maintain law and order,” Sharma said.

The four others arrested for beating up the youths, include Yogesh Uike, Deepesh Namdev, Rohit Yadav and Shyamlal Dehria. Case under IPC sections 341, 294, 323, 147, 148, 149, 325 and 354 and section 25 of Arms Act have been slapped on them. They have also been sent to jail. Unlicensed weapons, including an air gun, were recovered from the car of Baghel, the main accused, a police release said.

Meanwhile, the video went viral on social media on Friday night and elicited widespread condemnation. Photographs of the main accused Shubham Baghel with newly elected Bhopal MP Pragya Singh Thakur on the day her nomination was announced also got circulated.

President of AIMIM, Asaduddin Owaisi, also quoted the video to attack the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “This is how Muslims are treated by vigilantes created by Modi voters. Welcome to a New India which will (be) inclusive and as @PMOIndia said secularism ka niqaab’.