Caught on camera: Goons thrash couple mercilessly

MEERUT: When a group of Bajrang Dal men first accosted and then mercilessly beat up a Muslim couple in Khurja in Bulandshahr district last week, thinking the woman was Hindu (she later turned out to be Muslim, but that didn't stop the beatings) and that it was a case of love jihad , the woman had kept quiet about one thing. In court, she has now alleged that the Bajrang Dal men later gang-raped her. Following this, police have changed the original FIR to include gang rape charges.In an interview to a local Hindi news channel, the woman said on Saturday that the men not only raped her but tried to hang her by a noose one of them made. "My friend and I were sitting in a room when a group of men approached us and asked us why we were sitting there. They started beating both of us and dragged him out of the room before raping me. One of them suggested to the others that we should be hanged by a noose."According to the woman, the men boasted that they were members of the Bajrang Dal and they could do whatever they wanted. In the video clip of the incident, which has since gone viral, the group of men can be seen telling the two, "Tum log Hindu mohalle ko ganda karte ho (You lot are dirtying a Hindu locality)."The woman’s friend, a Delhi resident, who was the one to be beaten up along with her on November 20, told TOI: “The two of us are friends and had gone to a shop to eat pizza. The goons attacked us and hurled communal abuses. They then dragged me out of the room and beat me. They then took her to another room, where she was confined for about 45 minutes.”A neighbour of the woman TOI spoke to said, “After the incident, she came home and told us everything that had happened. Two men had taken her inside the room and three others followed them. In the room, they took turns raping her. They then beat her up even more. Luckily, her face was covered in the video that has gone viral. It was only after she gave her statement in court that the gang rape section was added to the FIR. All she wants now is justice.”The administration, meanwhile, has redoubled efforts after the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) asked the district magistrate (DM) to submit a report. “We are taking this case seriously. We have a zero-tolerance policy towards those who sexually assault women and fan communal hatred. We have already arrested five persons and are searching for the others. Following her statement in court, the woman was sent for a medical examination on Saturday. We will get the results and we will catch all the accused soon,” Bulandshahr DM AK Singh said.