Muslim man assaulted for ‘being friends’ with Hindu woman

NEW DELHI: A Muslim man has been threatened and assaulted by a group of attackers in northern India for being friends with a Hindu woman, local media reported. A video purportedly showing the attack was posted online and has gone viral.

The incident took place in the city of Kanpur in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh earlier in May. However, Indian media broke the news only this weekend.The 24-year-old man identified in reports as Mohammad Rizwan went to a railway station to meet a Hindu woman, and was followed by an angry mob. In the video, the perpetrators can be seen cornering the man and slapping him, asking him about the nature of his relationship with the woman. One man can be heard saying that the Muslim “will have to pay for what he has done.” The attackers also tell the man that they will change their names “if we don’t ruin you.” It’s not yet clear if the victim had already met the woman before he was attacked. The woman is not seen in the footage.