A 64-year-old man was brutally attacked by fellow passengers on a moving train in Maharashtra, with passersby accusing him of having beef. The horrifying video lays down some kind of a crew of almost 10 men intimidating Ashraf Munyar, demanding him to explain the contents inside two big plastic containers he had on him. Still, there stood in front of more than a dozen indifferent spectators, mechanically smiling at the sight of horror.
The video shows how the men questioned Munyar, demanding to know what he had, where he was heading, and if he did not get goats in that place. The man who had been apprehended looked really uncomfortable as he mentioned that he was carrying the meat for his daughter’s family in Malegaon. When asked further, he confessed to having stated that the boxes held buffalo meat.
The men, unsatisfied with the answers, kept attacking him with more questions and recording the whole scene. One man threatened to ‘try out’ the meat, while another said it was a disgrace to do so during the Sawan festival. Sections of the Maharashtra Animal Preservation Act of 1976 that outlaw the slaughter of cows, bulls, and bullocks do not apply to buffaloes.
After that, the RC said an FIR had been lodged, and the railway police were still looking for the accused. Later, when the video went viral, the GRP called Munyar, with whom they communicated for quite some time before she was willing to file a complaint. Police said they identified two suspects from Dhule and sent a police team to nab them.
The attack was condemned by NCP leader Jitendra Awhad of the Sharad Pawar faction, who agitated towards lowering the law and order situation in the state. “This is not Maharashtra,” he said, “This is not our culture,” pointing to the fact that more than 50% of the population of Maharashtra is non-vegetarian. He said that respect must be accorded to different communities and expressed concern about how it is morally acceptable to beat a man for just suspicion that he is gay.
