Assam: 68-year-old man thrashed, abused by mob; forced to eat pork for allegedly selling beef; video of incident viral

A 68-year-old Muslim man was reportedly abused and brutally trashed by mob for allegedly selling beef, reported India Today. According to Assam Police, the old man identified as Shaukat Ali was attacked on Sunday by a mob in Assam’s Biswanath Chariali.

The mob reportedly beat him up on the road and also forced him to eat pork as punishment by locals for allegedly selling beef. The man has received injuries and is currently being treated at a government hospital.

According to police, Shaukat Ali has been running a business in the area for about 35 years. He was attacked by the mob that suspected him of allegedly selling cooked beef in the weekly ‘haat (market).

The incident was captured on the mobile phone by the people present at the spot. In one of the videos, someone from the mob can be heard asking Shaukat Ali, "Are you Bangladeshi? Is your name in the NRC (National Register of Citizens)?" One asked him if he had licence to sell beef.

Soon the video went viral, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi also hit out at the incident on Twitter, he said "I know many people who feel they're desensitized because of the number of lynchings in the last five years. I am not, each video infuriates me and saddens me." Owaisi added, "It's irrelevant that beef is legal in Assam, lynching an innocent old man is illegal in every part of India."

According to NDTV reprots, the district police have filed two separate First Information Reports (FIR) - one of them is by Shaukat Ali's brother. The police have started an investigation and are on the lookout for the men seen in the video, say sources.

Assam is implementing the NRC, in a bid to weed out illegal citizens in the state. In the final draft published last year, witnessed names of over 40 lakh people name were missing, among a total of 3,29,91,384 applicants.

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