Muslim man,Hindu woman travelling together, forcibly taken off train by Bajrang Dal workers

The Bajrang Dal members, who accused the man of “love jihad”, assaulted him as they forcibly took him off the train.

A Muslim man and a married Hindu woman co-travellers, were forcibly taken off an Ajmer-bound train by members of the Bajrang Dal and handed over to the railway police station in Ujjain, a report in the Indian Express said.

The Bajrang Dal members, who accused the man of “love jihad”, assaulted him as they forcibly took him off the train.

The two passengers, family friends from Indore, were questioned by Government Railway Police (GRP) and made to sit at the police station until their parents arrived. They were let off after their statements were recorded.

No offence was registered against the Bajrang Dal members as there was no complainant, according to the GRP.

The incident took place on January 14. While the man was identified as Asif Shaikh, owner of a small electronic shop, the woman is a private schoolteacher.

A video of the incident, shows three men who identified themselves as Bajrang Dal workers dragging Shaikh out of the train coach. As they take him to the police station, the woman is seen walking behind them.

Another video taken inside the police station, shows the woman screaming at the Bajrang Dal men. “Your one misunderstanding can spoil my life. I’m an adult, I work as a teacher in a school, I teach children,” she says. One of the Bajrang Dal men, identified as Pintu Kaushal, is seen telling her that he was not talking to her.

GRP Superintendent of Police Nivedita Gupta said Shaikh and the woman were family friends and had known each other for years. 

“After they were brought in to the police station by Bajrang Dal men, who alleged ‘love jihad’, we recorded their statements and as they were both adults and there was no offence, they were let off,” said Gupta.

She said no case was registered against the Bajrang Dal workers. “We were not aware that the man was manhandled in any way while being brought to the police station and neither did the two tell us. As there was no complaint against the Bajrang Dal men, we have not registered any offence.”

Kundan Chandrawat, Prachar Pramukh for Malwa Prant of VHP, of which Bajrang Dal is the students’ wing, said there was “information through reliable sources that a Hindu woman was being misled by a Muslim man and taken along with him”.

“It is for the protection of our Hindu sisters that our workers intervened…. They just took him to the nearest police station. During the process, the man and workers got into a small tussle, but no one was beaten up. They handed over the two and left,” said Chandrawat.

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