Gurugram: 20 booked for assaulting student over social media post
The police on Friday booked 20 persons for allegedly assaulting a Class X student in Haryana's Gurugram. The incident happened after the victim shared a video on social media showing two of the suspects being beaten up by a group of men. The suspects reportedly threatened the victim to remove the post, which the latter refused.
The victim, Mohit Khan (18), is a resident of Sakatpur in the Badshahpur area. He studies in Nuh and lives with his grandparents and uncle. Khan had uploaded the video on social media on Tuesday. Despite repeated threats by the suspect, he didn't take the video down, the police said. Following this, they intercepted Khan on Thursday and brutally assaulted him.
The suspects assaulted Khan for over half an hour, the police said. One of them also recorded a video, threatening to upload it on social media to take revenge. They had also asked the victim to plead, seeking forgiveness. The victim is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Sector 56, said the police, adding that they have recovered the video of the assault.
Khan said two of the suspects often uploaded their pictures exercising in a gym and shared videos showing their muscles. Someone sent him the video where the two of them were seen "being beaten up and they were pleading a group of men to leave them," Khan said. "They often teased and threatened the village boys...so I shared the clip...to make fun of them."
Khan said the suspects called him within an hour and asked him to take down the video. "Within an hour, one of the suspects called me and asked me my location which I shared," Khan said. "Within 15 minutes, the suspects, along with 20-30 young men, reached the location and intercepted my way." Khan said he was with his two friends at that time.
The victim's father, Mustafa Khan (40)--who runs a welding shop in Badshahpur--said he received a call from his friend Thursday afternoon that his son had suffered injuries and was bleeding profusely. "I went to the spot and took Mohit to a hospital. My son has suffered multiple injuries and fractures." He alleged suspects attacked Mohit with iron rods, sticks, bricks, and were carrying weapons.
A case has been registered under sections 148 (riots), 149 (unlawful assembly), 323 (assault), 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, and sections of the Arms Act. Police further said suspects had been identified, and raids are ongoing to arrest them.
