The National Commission for Women (NCW) has written to UP Director-General of Police about an incident in which the head priest of a temple gave rape threats to women of a particular community while making a speech in Sitapur district.
NCW Chairperson Rekha Sharma, on Friday, wrote to the DGP, condemning the statement made by the accused and demanded registration of an FIR against him. The women's panel also sought the head priest’s arrest at the earliest.
In its letter, the NCW said that it was writing to the DGP after coming across a Twitter post enclosing a video of the priest who made the threat while addressing a gathering at Sitapur. The NCW alleged that the police personnel were present at the spot, however, none of them stopped the priest from making such outrageous statements against women.
"Women are their target, whether it is Hindu threatening Muslims or Muslims threatening Hindus. Though we are taking such complaints again and again and taking them up with the police, it seems cases are not decreasing," the NCW Chairperson said.
A recent clip surfaced on social media which sparked a controversy on Thursday. In the video, a saffron-clad man, later identified as Mahant of Maharshi Shri Lakshman Das Udasin Ashram in Khairabad town, Bajrang Muni Das, was seen issuing rape threat to women from a particular community, prompting police to initiate a probe into the matter.
The two-minute video containing the hate speech is said to have been recorded on April 2 when Das led a procession on the occasion of Navratri and Hindu New Year.
The mahant can be heard in the video making provocative and hateful remarks toward a community while addressing a gathering outside a mosque in Sitapur. The mahant also said that there was a plot to murder him.
Bajrang Das Muni could be heard saying in the video that if any Hindu girl was teased by a man belonging to a particular community, he would himself rape a woman of that community. He made some more objectionable comments.
It is alleged that when his procession reached a mosque, he started blurting out hate speech on a loudspeaker. "I am telling this to you with all the love that if a single Hindu girl is teased by you in Khairabad, I will openly bring your daughter and daughter-in-law out of your home and rape them," Das was heard saying in the video.
After the video surfaced on social media, the Sitapur police initiated a probe led by ASP (North) Rajiv Dixit. The police said that legal action would be ensured as per rules on the basis of the facts and evidence collected.
Earlier, the Delhi Police filed a case against Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, a priest of Dasna Devi temple, for making inflammatory and offensive remarks while addressing a gathering during a Hindu Mahapanchayat Sabha at Haridwar.