A video circulating on social media showed three Muslim minors being assaulted and forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram” by a Hindu man in Madhya Pradesh. Following the incident, police filed an FIR against two minor suspects, one of whom was arrested in Ratlam district. The arrested suspect, 17 years old, was seen assaulting the children in the video, while the one who leaked it is still absconding.
The victims, aged 7, 11, and 13, are students of classes 2, 5, and 6. The 13-year-old victim described how the incident occurred when they were approached by two individuals who verbally abused them, assaulted them, and forced them to chant “Jai Shri Ram” while recording the incident. They were threatened with death if they reported the assault.
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Activist Imran Khokhar, who assisted the family in filing the case, mentioned that the video was leaked a month after the assault when one of the suspects, allegedly drunk, shared it for amusement. The children were too frightened to speak out until the video emerged. One of the victims, a six-year-old who had recently lost both parents, was deeply affected by the leak, and needed police help to break into his room after he locked himself inside.
The father of the 13-year-old victim shared that his son had been acting strangely for weeks, avoiding school and fearing to go outside, and only revealed the assault after seeing the video. Another father expressed concern over the toxic atmosphere in the country, where even children are becoming victims of hatred and violence.
