The police in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh mercilessly assaulted a Muslim man for asking a police officer to take off his shoes before entering the mosque premises.
Junaid Babu, a resident of Darvespur village in Kaushambi district of Uttar Pradesh, told the media that the police officials had arrived to remove the loudspeaker used for the Azaan (call to prayer) at the mosque and attempted to enter the mosque premises with their shoes on.
Junaid said that despite his request for the police officers to remove their shoes, they disregarded his pleas and proceeded to remove the loudspeaker. Upon their return, the officers became agitated with Junaid’s insistence on the shoe removal and confronted him, stating “‘Ye zyada bol raha hai’ (He is speaking too much).”
In a video, Junaid said that the police physically assaulted him in custody. He asserts that he was subjected to punches and severe beatings with sticks, resulting in visible bruises on his body, which he displays as evidence of the assault. “I have sustained bruises on my body, hands, and ears. They thrashed me and threatened to imprison me if I revealed it to someone. They even recorded a video of mine before I was able to leave,” he said in the video.
