A Hindu seer on camera threatened to "publicly kidnap and rape" Muslim women if members of their community (Muslims) tried to molest Hindu girls.
The seer, identified as Mahant Bajarang Muni Das, the head of a famous temple in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur district allegedly made such remarks during a religious procession at Khairabad town in the district a few days ago, sources said.
"Agar kisi Muslim ne Hindu betiyon ko cheda to main khuleam tumhari bahu-betiyon ko khuleam utha laonga aur unse balatakar karoonga," (If any Muslim men tries to molest any Hindu girl then I will openly kidnap your (Muslim) daughters and rape them,'' the seer is heard saying in a video that went viral on Friday.
The seer made the remarks from a jeep as the procession passed a mosque in Khairabad which has a sizable Muslim population. Another video showed cops on another vehicle following the seer's vehicle.
The remarks were made a week ago but the police registered a case against the seer only after the video became public. ''A case under relevant sections of the IPC has been registered and necessary action will be taken on the basis of evidence,'' a statement from Sitapur police said.
Sources said that the seer had earlier also been in the news for allegedly grabbing temple land in the town.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) condemned the remarks and asked the district police to act against the seer. ''The police should not be a mute spectator in such incidents,'' it said in a statement.
Last year, some Hindu seers at a 'dharm sansad' at Haridwar in Uttarakhand, had allegedly appealed to the Hindu youths to take up arms to protect the Hindu religion and make India a Hindu Rashtra and said that they, like Nathuram Godse, would have ''pumped six bullets in the chest of Manmohan Singh (former prime minister), when he had said that the minorities had first right over national resources''.
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