In the video, the man makes provocative and communal statements, alleging that if any Hindu girl in the area was harassed, he would kidnap and publicly rape Muslim women in retaliation.
Representational image. AFP
Uttar Pradesh police have opened an investigation into a purported video in which a Hindu priest was heard threatening to kidnap and rape Muslim women. According to reports, the priest made these statements outside a mosque in Sitapur, about 100 km from the state capital Lucknow.
According to an NDTV report, the man in a saffron robe, who is addressing the crowd in the video, is reportedly the mahant of a small town called Khairabad. In the clip, a police officer can also be seen in the background, while the man addresses the crowd from inside a jeep.
The video was shared by co-founder of fact-check website AltNews, Mohammed Zubair. According to his tweet, the incident took place on 2 April. He also tagged Uttar Pradesh Police and Sitapur Police in his tweet, seeking action against the man.
Watch the clip here:
In the video, the man makes provocative and communal statements, alleging that if any Hindu girl in the area was harassed, he would kidnap and publicly rape Muslim women in retaliation. The crowd appears to cheer him on, with shouts of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ echoing in the clip.
The man also claims that there is a plot to murder him and a sum of Rs 28 lakh has been collected for the same.
According to NDTV, after Zubair posted the video on 7 April, several social media users have called for action against the man, whom some have identified as “Bajrang Muni”. People have also flagged the remarks to the National Commission for Women as well as the United Nations human rights body, seeking their intervention in the matter.
The Twitter account of Sitapur Police issued a statement over the matter, and declared that a senior officer is looking into the matter. It further added that action will be taken on the basis of facts that emerge in the due course of the investigation.
View the tweet here:
This is not the only video that has grabbed headlines for provocative and communal statements. In January this year, Yati Narsinghanand Giri was arrested for hate speech and derogatory comments after some videos of his statements surfaced on social media.