Sitapur (UP): Uttar Pradesh police on Saturday said they had charged a seer accused of delivering an anti-Muslim hate speech and threatening rape.
During a speech in Khairabad town on April 2, Maharshi Shri Lakshman Das Udasin Ashram mahant, Bajrang Muni Das, allegedly said and threatened something. The video of the speech made its way onto social media platforms on Thursday.
"A case has been registered against Mahant Bajrang Muni Das over his hate speech in Khairabad. After collection of evidence and inquiry, police will initiate action accordingly," Additional Superintendent of Police Sitapur, Rajiv Dikshit, said.
Das was charged with making derogatory statements and hate speech under sections of the Indian Penal Code.
As soon as the case was filed against Das on Friday, a video of him apologizing and describing his statement as "wrong" surfaced on the internet. "My statement has been presented in a wrong way. I seek unconditional apology for the same," he said.
In a statement released on Friday, the National Commission for Women (NCW) called for Das' arrest and reprimanded police, saying they cannot sit idly by while incidents like this get out of control.
Das is heard saying in a two-minute video, which is said to have been recorded on April 2, he would rape a woman belonging to a community if any Hindu girl was teased by a man from that community.