Indian man arrested over ‘rape threat’ to Muslim women at public rally

Bajrang Muni Das charged for promoting enmity between two groups and sexual harassment

Bajrang Muni Das was arrested 11 days after he allegedly threatened Muslim women (Screengrab/ Twitter)

A man from India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly threatening mass sexual violence against Muslim women.

Bajrang Muni Das, formerly known as Anupam Mishra, was taken into custody from Sitapur district after being booked under charges related to promoting enmity between two groups and sexual harassment, reported NDTV.

A two-minute video of his speech went viral last Friday. The video was originally shot on 2 April on the occasion marking Hindu religious festival Navratri.

Addressing a crowd near a mosque, he can be heard saying: “I am telling this to you [Muslims] with love that if a single Hindu girl is teased by you in Khairabad, I will openly bring your daughters and daughters-in-law out of your home and rape them.”

Das also claimed that upto Rs 2.5m (£28,000) was being collected to murder him. “They don’t know that if I am murdered then for the next 100 years in Khairabad, muslims will be murdered and Lord Ram will be hailed,” he said, according to The Wire.

The presence of police officers at the event didn’t deter Mr Das.

“There are people from the law and administration present here but I want to say this openly – if any wrong is done to our women then just like they [Muslims] don’t follow the constitution and follow Quran, we will also not follow the constitution,” he claimed.

The police first registered a case against him on 7 April, after the widely-circulated video drew backlash from several quarters, including the National Commission for Women.

The commission demanded that authorities book him and also sought “appropriate measures from the police to curb people from using such outrageous language for women and not be a mute spectator in such incidents”.

Hours after the registration of a criminal case, another video surfaced on social media in which the accused was heard apologising.  “My statement has been presented in a wrong way. I seek unconditional apology for the same,” he said.

The Independent has not independently verified either video.

There has been a rise in cases of Islamophobia since Narendra Modi’s victory as the country’s prime minister in 2014.

In recent months, Muslims and their livelihoods, food, culture, and homes have been targeted by right-wing groups, many of whose members have openly called for violence against minorities.

Earlier this year, dozens of Muslim women were “auctioned” online on GitHub using an open software app.

Two persons were killed in communal violence that erupted in at least five states of India during the Hindu festival of Ram Navami – celebrations to mark Lord Ram’s birthday – on Sunday.

Clashes broke out as processions celebrating the festival blasted songs laced with violent and dehumanising lyrics targeting minorities in front of mosques and areas with a substantial Muslim population.

Students were assaulted at the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi by members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of the BJP’s ideological parent Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, over the consumption of meat during the Hindu festival.

In the southwestern state of Karnataka, fruit stalls owned by Muslim vendors were vandalised by members of similar right-wing groups.

The same state has also barred students from wearing hijab in educational institutions, forcing them to miss out on classes and exams. Students wearing the Islamic headscarf have been heckled by mobs of men in saffron robes chanting religious slogans over the past few months.

In central India’s Madhya Pradesh state, homes and shops belonging to Muslims in Khargone city were demolished by the BJP government, a day after a communal clash broke out during religious processions.

The spate of violence also drew a sharp comment from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last Monday, when he said Washington was monitoring a spike in “human rights abuses” in India by the Modi administration, police and prison officials.