Three and a half years have passed since Tasleem Banjara lay on the ground in Indore, weeping as a group of men assaulted him. 

Tasleem, a bangle seller, was accused of practising “love jihad” in a “Hindu area”. When he complained about being assaulted, he was swiftly booked in an FIR for sexually harassing a minor Hindu girl. The state’s home minister declared Tasleem had been “posing as a Hindu”, that he had “two Aadhaar cards” as part of this conspiracy.

Tasleem spent over three months in jail before getting bail. He then spent the next 24 months continuing to sell bangles but also shouldering the weight of the charges against him, only for a trial court to acquit him of all charges this week. 

“They framed me in a false case simply because I am a Muslim,” Tasleem, 28, told Newslaundry after his acquittal. “But now, after three and a half years, the truth has come out. I don’t hold any grudge against those who did this to me. I have forgiven them. This is the land of Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb. We are all Indians. We should live in peace and harmony.”

Tasleem wants to move on, but Newslaundry decided to contact those involved in his arrest – his assaulters, the police, and politicians. 

‘I don’t know anything’

A video of Tasleem’s assault went viral in August 2021. When he filed a police complaint at Centre Kotwali police station, he was booked in the POCSO case. His complaint was then transferred to Banganga police station, where the police initially refused to accept his complaint. 

After local activists intervened, an FIR was registered against four people and the accused were arrested. Immediately after, residents surrounded the police station and demanded their release. They were released a few days later.

One of the accused is Vivek Vyas. In the video of Tasleem’s assault, he’s wearing a yellow kurta and shouts, “Open his bag, brother. See what’s there. Take it out…He should never be seen in our area again. Hey, you, never come to our area. Do not be seen in any Hindu area.”

Vyas works for a private firm in Indore. When contacted by Newslaundry after Tasleem’s acquittal, he urged this reporter to “forget about the incident”.

“He said let’s leave the past behind,” said Vyas, referring to Tasleem’s statement after his acquittal. “You should also not write about it. I don’t know anything. I don’t know what has happened and how it happened. I don’t know whether I even exist or not. Let’s not bring out this issue any further.”

The other three named in the FIR for assault are Rajkumar Bhatnagar, Vikas Malviya and Suresh. Suresh isn’t his real name – he’s the one who filed the POCSO complaint saying Tasleem sexually harassed his minor daughter by “inappropriately touching her hands and cheeks”. Since it’s a POCSO case, he cannot be named in this report. 

According to the police FIR, Suresh claimed Tasleem “threatened to kill” his wife and daughter after his wife protested against Tasleem’s alleged behaviour. 

But when the case went to court, Suresh and his wife denied all the accusations they had detailed in the police FIR. Suresh, his wife and daughter all said they did not know Tasleem; that he had never sold bangles to them; that he had never hidden his Muslim identity; and that he had never used a Hindu name. 

The daughter also told the court that she had gone to the police station with her parents but the police never took her statement. Suresh and his wife told the court the police allegedly didn’t question them and that they didn’t support any allegations made by the prosecution.

Suresh did not respond to Newslaundry’s request for comment. 

Police ‘doesn’t remember’

Tasleem was picked up by the police on August 23, 2021. The police said they needed to conduct a “medical examination” to take further action on his complaint of assault. He was then taken to Hira Nagar police station – it’s unclear why this police station – by 4 pm that day and locked up. The POCSO FIR against him was registered only at 5.45 pm at Banaganga police station.

Newslaundry contacted Shraddha Singh Pawar, a sub-inspector who filed the POCSO FIR at Banaganga. She said she doesn’t recollect what precisely happened that day. 

When asked if the minor has filed the police complaint or someone else, she said, “I don’t recall exactly. But if it’s mentioned in the records that it’s been filed by the girl, then it must be her.”

Newslaundry then contacted sub-inspector Nidhi Mittal, the investigating officer in the POCSO case against Tasleem. When asked about his acquittal, she said, “I don’t recall things exactly, as it happened around three years ago. In case of minor victims, we immediately have to file the report. We do the investigation as per filing of the report. We went to the locality and took the statement of those people.”

But wasn’t it curious that Tasleem was named in a POCSO complaint immediately after he filed a police complaint of assault?

Mittal said, “I was not aware that Tasleem had filed an FIR.”

Rajendra Joshi, the former station house officer of Banganga police station, did not respond to Newslaundry’s request for comment. Joshi is currently posted in Dhar.

Newslaundry also sent a questionnaire to BJP’s Narottam Mishra, then home minister of Madhya Pradesh. This report will be updated if he responds. 

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