– Zaina Aman
On Friday, a Muslim boy, identified as Ali Ahmed, was arrested by Assam police under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, following a brutal assault by a Hindu mob in Cachar district’s Narsingpur region. The violence erupted after Ahmed was seen talking to a female friend near their school.
The assault began when a group of young men from the Hindu community confronted Ahmed and questioned him. Subsequently, they bound his hands, stripped him, and paraded him in front of a crowd while pulling him along with a rope. Ahmed, a Class 12 student, reported that he was beaten by 15-20 people, many of whom were unfamiliar to him. In viral videos of the incident, he is seen bleeding from his nose and mouth, pleading for help and denying any romantic involvement with the girl.
The girl, who was also harassed and assaulted, had her hair pulled by a woman in the mob while a group of men demanded she reveal her face. Despite Ahmed’s family filing a complaint with the police regarding the assault, no arrests have been made so far in connection with the mob violence. Instead, Ahmed was taken into custody based on a complaint from the girl’s family.
Cachar Superintendent of Police Numal Mahatta confirmed that the arrest was made on the basis of the girl’s statement. However, the girl has denied being in a relationship with Ahmed and acknowledged that they were merely classmates up until Class 10.
