The Uttar Pradesh police have started investigating a video in which a Hindu priest is seen allegedly threatening to kidnap and rape Muslim women while addressing a gathering outside a mosque in Sitapur district, about 100 km from state capital Lucknow.
The video shows a man clad in saffron robes, reportedly the local mahant in a small town called Khairabad, addressing a gathering from inside a jeep. A man in a police uniform can also be seen in the background.
Speaking on a microphone, the man appears to make communal and provocative remarks as the crowd cheers him with shouts of "Jai Shri Ram".
The man alleges a plot to murder him and adds that a sum of Rs 28 lakh has been collected for this.
He then purportedly says that if a Muslim harasses any girl in the area, he would kidnap Muslim women and publicly rape them. The threat is met with loud cheers by the crowd.
Sharing the video, Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of fact-check website AltNews, said the video was shot on April 2 but no action had been taken by the police even after five days.
Responding to his tweet, Sitapur police said a senior officer is investigating the matter and that action will be taken on the basis of facts.
अपर पुलिस अधीक्षक उत्तरी द्वारा जांच प्रचलित है। प्राप्त तथ्यों एवं साक्ष्यों के आधार पर नियमानुसार विधिक कार्यवाही सुनिश्चित की जाएगी।
— Sitapur Police (@sitapurpolice) April 7, 2022Following Mr Zubair's post on the video, several Twitter users have called for action against the religious leader, identified by some as "Bajrang Muni". The users have flagged the communal remarks to the UN human rights body and National Commission for Women, seeking strict intervention in the matter.
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