That the police team had raided his house but he escaped. “We will update with full information once the culprit is under arrest,” the senior police officer said.
In a disturbing incident, a group of young Muslim women was targeted by right-wing Hindutva men at a fair in Uttar Pradesh’s Milikhan Jahanpur village of Firozabad city. The incident came to light on Saturday, February 9 when a video of the intimidation surfaced on social media, igniting widespread condemnation and outrage.
The widely circulated video footage shows a man standing behind the Muslim women in black burqas aggressively chanting “Jai Shri Ram” in an apparent act of intimidation.
He makes inappropriate gestures towards them singing, “Palat, tera dyan kidar hai, yai tera hero idar hai” (Where is your focus, Your hero is here).
The visibly discomforting women are seen attempting to leave the scene, however, the group continue to film them while yelling, “Tel lagao Dabar ka” and “Naam mitao Babur ka (Apply Tel of Dabar, erase the name of Babur).”
The video was posted by one of the group members on social media.
Later, while on a live stream with one Priyanka Tomar, the man describes his ‘experience.’
“Woh teesri wali sahi lag rahi thi aur, sahi kya, who kaali kaali thi. Bus muh dikh raha that, suwar jaisa (That third one was looking right, right? Actually, it was black. I could only see her face which was like a pig.),” the man is heard saying in the video.
Outrage
The incident has brought attention to Muslim women’s safety amid rising Hindutva threats in India. Social and women’s rights activists have flagged concern and urged that this targeted harassment is a Hindutva agenda to sexualize Muslim women to prove their dominance and use it against the community.
The activists and the public have called for immediate legal action against the perpetrators and demanded religious and gender-based protections.
Jammu and Kashmir-based activist, Waqar H Bhatti has released a video statement about the incident, accusing Yogi Adityanath’s government of failing to make a crime-free environment for women in Uttar Pradesh.
Activist and artist RJ Sayema also shared the video on X and wrote, “Such goons are found everywhere. Insecure perverts”.
Police response
The Firozabad Police issued a statement on X stating, “The concerned police station in-charge has been directed to take appropriate action”.
The senior superintendent of police (SSP) who said that two special teams including a cyber team have been formed to nab the man. “The police had raided his house but he escaped. We will update with full information once the culprit is under arrest,” the senior police officer said.
