Representational.
Lucknow: Mob attacked minor girls in Uttar Pradesh’s Deoband in Saharanpur district, alleging that they were talking with a Hindu man. The incident came to light after the footage of the violence went viral on social media.
Over the incident, the state police arrested a person, identified as 38-year-old Mohammad Mehtab.
The girls, who were ages 16 and 17, were giving directions to a bike-borne man after he requested. At that moment, two people arrived and started the issue. Then, more people were gathered, and the matter was escalated on the pretext that the girls spoke to a Hindu, though he was not of Hindu faith in the first place.
Then, when the girls picked up the phone to call their brother, the mob snatched it and threw it away. They alleged that the gift package in the young man's hand was given by the girls. The mob released the girls only after realizing that the bike rider was not a Hindu. The girls who escaped from there filed a complaint with the local police, and one of them gave a statement that the people had beaten her and tried to remove her hijab.
Rural SP Sagar Jain said that an FIR was registered regarding the incident, and one person was arrested. He said that efforts are being made to find others using the video that is being circulated.