An elderly man was repeatedly slapped and verbally abused by fellow passengers on a moving train in Maharashtra after they suspected him of carrying beef. While the incident unfolded, dozens of onlookers did nothing to help; some even watched with smiles on their faces.
A disturbing video of the incident shows nearly a dozen men aggressively questioning Ashraf Munyar about a meat-like substance he was carrying in two large plastic boxes. They interrogated him with questions such as, “What are you carrying? Where are you going? Where are you from? Don’t you have goats there? How many people are going to eat it?”
Have no words to express the pain on seeing this video. This hate is dangerously moving towards a point of no return, what is more painful is to know that this happened in Maharashtra.
The bogus state government, will it act and punish the perpetrators swiftly and severely? https://t.co/a6lkzZnyTA— Priyanka Chaturvedi🇮🇳 (@priyankac19) August 31, 2024
The elderly man, visibly shaken, quietly responded that he was taking the meat to his daughter’s house. Munyar, a resident of Jalgaon district, was traveling on the Dhule Express to visit his daughter’s family in Malegaon.
Dissatisfied with his response, the men continued to question him and recorded the exchange on their phones. At one point, Munyar stated the boxes contained buffalo meat.
One of the men responded, “We will know what kind of meat it is once we get it tested,” while another said, “It’s Sawan season. It’s our festival, and you are doing this.” The month of Shravan, or Sawan, is considered a holy period for Hindus.
According to the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act of 1976, the slaughter of cows, bulls, and bullocks is prohibited, but buffaloes are not covered under this ban.
The Railway Commissioner confirmed the incident and stated that a First Information Report (FIR) had been registered. The railway police are currently searching for the passengers involved in the assault.
After the video went viral, the Government Railway Police (GRP) contacted the elderly man, who initially hesitated to file a complaint. The police have since identified two suspects from Dhule and have dispatched a team to locate them.
Jitendra Awhad, a leader from Sharad Pawar’s NCP camp, condemned the incident and criticized the state’s law and order situation. “Some youngsters attacked him because they thought he was carrying beef. This is not Maharashtra. This is not our culture. Where will this end?” he questioned.
He further commented, “Eighty percent of people in Maharashtra are non-vegetarians, this is our Maharashtra. Ninety-five percent of the coastal population is non-vegetarian. We respect all religions, including Jains, but what is this hatred that leads to beating people based on suspicion? They might have escaped by now. How do they not feel ashamed of attacking someone who could be as old as their father?”
