Meerut: Pawan Kumar, 34, a welder by profession, converted to Islam 20 days ago. He grew a beard and started wearing a skullcap as well. On Monday night, right-wing groups got to hear of this and descended on his home at Vishwakarma locality of Shamli. They beat him up, threw his skullcap away and got him shaved. A video of the assault has been uploaded and widely shared online.

The activists also alleged that a local madrassa had coerced Kumar to convert to Islam. Kumar denied the allegations and said, “I read a lot about Islam on the internet and one day decided to embrace the religion. No one forced me or lured me into this. I want to remain a Muslim but these rightwing activists beat me up and shaved off my beard.”

Kumar has four married sisters. His parents are dead and he lives alone. A few days ago he was seen on the streets with a new look and the news spread rapidly.

Vivek Premi, regional head of students of Bajrang Dal said, “Locals informed our activists in Vishwakarma colony about this sudden change. We arrived at his house and found the allegations were correct. He told us that a few Muslims lured him into embracing Islam in exchange of money to start his own business. They had also promised to find a bride for him. Later, clerics of a local madrassa converted him and even took him to court for registration. However, after counselling he understood that he had made a mistake and agreed to return to Hinduism. We conducted a shuddhikaran ceremony late on Monday night.”

Police on the other hand kept a safe distance from the entire episode. Speaking to TOI, Parvez Ahmad, station officer at Shamli police station said, “We have heard about the incident but no one approached us with a complaint.”