Four sadhus were assaulted by a mob on the suspicion of being child lifters in Maharashtra’s Sangli district on Tuesday, a video of which has gone viral on social media.
The incident took place in Umadi village. The sadhus were on their way to Lavanga from Uttar Pradesh to visit the temples as part of their religious pilgrimage. Initially, the villagers believed that they were thieves who had come to abduct the children and beat them up. The incident came to light after the beating video went viral on social media.
Following the incident, police have arrested six persons and the search is on for others.
According to police, the sadhus had arrived from Mathura to visit different temples. They had asked a boy for direction on their way to the temple town of Pandharpur from Karnataka’s Bijapur which led to the locals suspecting that they may be from a gang that kidnaps children.Some of the villagers who saw their interaction grew suspicious and started an argument. The villagers physically assaulted the sadhus with wooden sticks and the altercation ended with the victims convincing the villagers that they were on a bonafide visit to temples. The Sadhus also furnished aadhar cards as proof of their identity to escape public wrath. Later the sadhus refused to lodge a complaint against those who assaulted them .
In the video, two persons are seen whipping the sadhus with belts. According to preliminary reports, the youth had earlier seen an old video in Kannada language which resembled child lifters and mistook them as abductors. The youth informed the villagers after which the assault began. The local police immediately arrived on the scene, intervened in the matter and calmed the crowds.
{{/usCountry}}In the video, two persons are seen whipping the sadhus with belts. According to preliminary reports, the youth had earlier seen an old video in Kannada language which resembled child lifters and mistook them as abductors. The youth informed the villagers after which the assault began. The local police immediately arrived on the scene, intervened in the matter and calmed the crowds.
{{/usCountry}}Dixit Gedam, Superintendent of Police, Sangli said, “The incident took place due to a misunderstanding and six persons have been arrested for assault and search for others is on. The sadhus have not registered a complaint. The police took suo moto cognisance of the incident and registered an offence for hurt and riot. Six persons have been detained while around fourteen persons are involved in the crime. ”
This incident is similar to the April 14, 2020 Palghar incident, wherein an irate mob lynched two sadhus as they suspected them to be child abductors,
Maharashtra BJP MLA Ram Kadam condemned the incident and said the state government will not tolerate such “misbehaviour” with the sadhus. Strict action will be taken against the accused, he said in a video message.
A case under sections 324, 323, 143, 147, 148, 149, 504 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered.