In a bizarre incident a cab driver working with an aggregator service was beaten up by two unidentified men on a bike in Dombivli. The driver alleges that he was assaulted for being Muslim.
Representtional Image
ADVERTISEMENT
In a bizarre incident a cab driver working with an aggregator service was beaten up by two unidentified men on a bike in Dombivli. The driver has lodged a complaint in Manpada police station and alleges that he was assaulted for being Muslim.
In a report by Times of India, the driver Hafiz Zihauddin Siddiqui, said that the trouble started when the two young men objected to where he had parked his car. Previously a practicing maulvi, Siddiqui had started working for the aggregator cab service after his wife was detected with cancer and he quit his job as a maulvi.
In a statement the victim said he was parked on the side of the road when the two men approached him. “And when I screamed 'Ya Allah yeh kya ho raha hai (What is happening, Allah?)' during the assault, I was thrashed further and an attempt made to target my private parts," he added.
The two men fled when they saw another car approaching. According to Siddqui, the Manpada police station has registered only a non-cognisable complaint against the perpetrators . But when the Times of India asked senior inspector Abhay Kabdule about the complaint, he said that they would file and FIR and there would be a detailed probe into the matter.
A resident of Santacruz, Siddiqui began working with the aggregator service a few months ago. In a statement, Siddiqui said that at 1:20am on Sunday, he had dropped a customer off at Dombivli west. Subsequently he got a ride request from a customer who wanted to be dropped at Manpada road, Dombivli east. After that he received a request from a lady passenger from the same spot. He then parked his car on the side of the road in order to wait for her to arrive when he saw two young men drive towards his car on a motorcycle.
Thinking that they were the relatives of the passenger – since people often book cabs from their account for other people – he opened the driver’s side door to talk to them. He alleges that that is when the unprovoked attacked began. "The youths stopped their bike at the spot and asked me, 'Why have you parked your car here?'. And they started assaulting me. I could not understand why I was being hit as I had done no wrong, nor had I parked wrongly or obstructed any building gate. When I invoked Allah's name they hit me more and tried to attack my private parts,” he said.
After the men fled, Siddiqui said that he was worried they would return and cancelled the woman’s ride request. He then proceeded to a police chowky nearby, but found it was locked. In the mean time Siddiqui received a ride request to drive a customer to the airport. On completing that trip, Siddiqui went home and woke up with a bruised and swollen face. He says, "My face was swollen when I woke up on Sunday morning, so I first took treatment at VL Desai Hospital in Santacruz and later approached the Vakola police. But the cops there refused to take a complaint, saying he should approach Manpada police under whose jurisdiction the incident took place. Later that night I approached Manpada police who only registered an NC under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the Indian Penal Code.”
Siddiqui feel that the police should arrest the perpetrators since he was grievously injured.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
