In what appears to be a dangerous trend, the Hindus residing in Pichoda village, Bareilly have reportedly decided to flee from the village after being fed up with the persecution allegedly meted out by majority Muslims residing in the village.

The Hindus, who are in a minority in the village are living with fear facing persecution from the Muslim community. Reportedly, the Hindus wanted to build a new temple in the village. However, there has been a constant opposition from the Muslim community for building any Hindu religious places near the village.

Located at a distance of 70 km from Bareilly district headquarter, this village falls under Pilibhit, the parliamentary constituency of Varun Gandhi. There are about 150 Hindus in this village, while the Muslim population is about 1000. According to Hindus, a small temple exists in the village for the last 70 years and the Hindu community wanted to build a new temple in the village.

However, the Hindus allege that the Muslim community does not allow them to even worship in the temple and objects to the construction of a new temple. The Hindus alleged that whenever they visit the temple to worship, the people of Muslim community gather in huge numbers with sticks and brick stones in their hands to stop them for worshipping.

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OpIndia tried to get in touch with Bareilly SSP Muniraj and ASP Arpit Vijayvargiya. However, they did not answer our calls. As per media reports, the police have denied any such incident having taken place.

Dainik Jagran has reported that the Muslims in the village do not let the Hindu women visit the temple to offer water. If any Hindu objects, the Muslim villagers threaten to kidnap their daughter, the Hindu women allege. This kind of atmosphere has made it difficult for them to stay in the village any longer, the villagers said. “Better to leave a place where you can’t even pray to your god,” a villager reportedly said.

The villagers further alleged that Muslims do not even allow Kanwariyas to pass through their village. A group of Hindu women initially objected to actions of the Muslim community and registered their grievances to the public officials of the district. But, nothing was done despite the seriousness of the issue.

The Hindu community also accused Muslims of threatening them after they began to clean the temple premises and began to worship. The Hindus said that Muslim community threatened to kill them and their family if they continued to do so. With the continuous threat from the Muslims, the Hindus have decided to convert and flee the village.

The villagers have also accused the police administration of arbitrary action against Hindus. They said that the police have registered cases against hundreds of Hindu society and all have been penalized. The local BJP leader Doral Lal Sharma said local Hindus had decided to change their religion as no one heard their complaints.

As per reports, SSP Muniraj said that the villagers cannot build a new temple as it is against the rules. He said that according to the order of the Supreme Court, no new religious place will be constructed.