Three Muslim schoolboys were allegedly tied to a pole and assaulted by a group of Maratha men in Maharashtra’s Latur district after being accused of stealing electric wires, according to a report by The Wire.
Police initially registered a theft case against the boys before filing a case against the alleged attackers following public criticism. The incident occurred on July 10 in Kharola village in Renapur taluka, where the boys, aged between 13 and 15, were allegedly beaten with belts, electric wires and pipes, The Wire reported.
A video of the assault, which was reportedly filmed on a mobile phone by one of the alleged attackers, later circulated widely on social media.
The father of one of the boys told The Wire that he and the parents of the other victims rushed to the scene after learning their children had been tied to a pole and assaulted.
He alleged that when they attempted to intervene, the attackers abused and threatened them, leaving the families fearing for the children’s lives. Unable to stop the assault, the parents went to a police station about seven kilometres away, after which officers arrived at the scene and rescued the boys.
The children were taken to hospital for treatment. One parent alleged the boys’ bodies were covered in bruises after they were beaten with belts, electric wires and pipes.
While the families were at the hospital, one of the accused allegedly shared the assault video, which quickly spread on social media.
Police said officers intervened and physically rescued the boys from the mob. However, despite witnessing the assault, they did not immediately register a First Information Report (FIR) against the alleged attackers.
At about 10 p.m. the same day, one of the alleged main accused, Sachin Rautrao, lodged a complaint accusing the three boys of theft. DSP Mayane confirmed that Rautrao had come to the police station to file the complaint.
The police recorded Rautrao’s complaint and subsequently registered an FIR based on the complaint filed by the parents of one of the victims.
More than 10 hours passed between the assault and the registration of the FIR against the alleged attackers, during which two of the accused, Sachin Rautrao and Nitin Shinde, were reported missing.
Six other accused were subsequently arrested, produced before a magistrate and released on bail after two days.
Initially, the FIR filed by the victims’ family named two people. Police later added six more accused: Santosh Rautrao, Bably Kale, Datta Jadhav, Balu Suryavanshi, Ganesh Bhopi and Dashrath Bhopi, the report said.
Police said the assault had no communal motive. However, the victims’ parents alleged the attackers used communal and caste-based slurs during the assault. One parent also claimed police advised the family not to emphasise the boys’ Muslim identity in connection with the case.
Congress Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Syed Naseer Hussain alleged that the BJP-led Maharashtra government had allowed “an atmosphere” in which “even Muslim schoolboys are not spared from hatred and mob violence.”
According to The Wire, Kharola village has more than 1,500 households, including over 300 Muslim households and more than 500 Maratha households. Many Muslims in the village, largely from Other Backward Classes (OBC) communities, work as landless labourers and depend on Maratha landowners for their livelihoods.
Support Independent Media
Click Here and Join the Membership of Millat Times to Support Independent Media.
Support Millat Times