Mohammed Riyaz committed a very grevious crime. He was photographed, in his college classroom in Mangalore, next to a bunch of his friends having a good time. And then they circulated the picture on WhatsApp.
Absolutely unforgivable, isn’t it?
“After the photograph was circulated on social media sites, a vigilante group got other students from the college to identify the deviant youth and on learning that he was probably a Muslim, decided to attack him,” Assistant Commissioner of Police Ravi Kumar told The Indian Express .
How could a young boy his age be in a picture full of happy looking women? So against bharatiya sanskriti , isn’t it?
But this isn’t as simple as good old patriarchy. The goons who beat up Riyaz had an agenda, or so they believe.
According to The Newsminute , Riyaz said that he was blindfolded, taken to a secluded spot and beaten with wooden sticks, kicked on his genitals. If he was Muslim, how could he be in a photo with Hindu girls, the goonda s wanted to know.
If this isn’t an ABSURD level of intolerance, we wouldn’t want to see what is.
This BBC blog speculates that another reason for the attack could be the “flirtatious nature of the photograph”. Still doesn’t legitimise it? Also, we doubt being in the background of an image qualifies as flirting, not that it should matter at all.
Meanwhile, Riyaz’s father has registered a complaint with the police, who have filed a case of abduction and attempt to murder. Indian Express reports.