“The policemen kept calling him ‘molla’ [communal slur in Bangla used to villify Muslims], and kept hitting him on his genitals,” the wife and sisters-in-law of Bengali Muslim police constable Suraf Hossain have alleged. They say that he and his family were the victims of Islamophobic abuse by the area police.

The attack took place on August 6, 2021, in Sonarpur, South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. A video of the incident, was then shared by Dalit Camera, where the victim, reportedly Suraf’s uncle Hossain Ali is seen partially clothed as he is dragged across a marshy plot by a mob that is raining blows with sticks on him. Some uniformed policemen can also be seen in the mob thrashing the constable who came to help, and the loud sounds of their sticks hitting the victims can be heard even in the video shot from a distance. 

According to a media report, Suraf and his two brothers have been arrested and charged with rioting, criminal conspiracy against police. The family described the brutal assault on constable Suraf Hossain, stating that it began when the police landed at his house suddenly looking for his uncle Hossain Ali. When asked by Suraf if they had a warrant the cops allegedly began their attack and communal abuse. Suraf Hossain, the victim was dragged out of his home, abused and thrashed to an inch of his life. Taniya Parveen, the victim’s wife, was pregnant at that time and has since been reported to have suffered a miscarriage after physical assault on the couple. According to the family, they were attacked by policemen they identified to DC as “Somnath Das, Piya Sen and “thirty” others from Sonarpur PS”.

The horrific near-lynching has not even made it to the mainstream media, said locals, adding that only some local Muslim-focused media carried it apart from detailed reports by Dalit Camera and Muslim Mirror. According to the report, it was on August 6, 2021, that sub-inspector Somnath Das and four others of the Sonarpur police station came looking for Suraf Hossain’s uncle Hossain Ali. According to the report, “Hossain was beaten to pulp and his shirt that had been torn off by the policeman in civil clothing”. Seeing the deadly attack, Suraf tried to intervene, however, he was abused and beaten as well.

The victim’s 13-year-old daughter told the media that she returned home to find a mob of policemen dragging and brutally beating her father with police lathis. His wrists were tied to his waist, and he had been stripped naked.” According to the news report Suraf had identified himself as a police officer when Somnath Das allegedly “shoved him against the wall and punched him in the face”. The teenager added that the mob also attacked her asking for her phone which they suspected she had recorded the assault on her father on.

“They thrashed me and ransacked the house when I informed them I didn’t know where the phone was. They only left after finding the phone and my mother’s gold jewellery,” Muslim Mirror quoted her as saying. Suraf’s brother Jahangir Hossain was also reportedly beaten unconscious. According to the media, Suraf, Anwar, Jahangir Hossain and their families live in Beniabou, a small village in Sonarpur, District South 24 Parganas, West Bengal. His extended family includes a Kolkata police policeman, and Indian army troops, and live next door.

Mohammad Nawsad Siddique, chairman of Indian Secular Front and a member of West Bengal Legislative Assembly from Bhangar constituency, said “attacks on Dalits, Muslims and Adivasis are increasing in Bengal” adding that the onus lay on the state’s CM Mamata Banerjee. 

According to the news report Priya Sen, a woman police officer, allegedly used Islamophic slurs and repeatedly hit Suraf in his genitals. She also allegedly attacked his wife Taniya and said, “You all are mullas, and you are in the police. I will see how your husband keeps his job.”  Taniya repeatedly told the cops that she was pregnant, however it is alleged that she was forced to consume painkillers. According to the report, Tania was released on August 8, 2021 “because she was pregnant” but her brothers were produced at the Baruipur court the same evening and charged with “rioting, obstruction of police duties, criminal conspiracy against police, conspiracy to murder, etc”. 

Taniya, has reportedly written to West Bengal  Chief Minister, detailing the attack calling it “inhuman torture and now a false case”. She has reportedly accused Sub-inspector Khalek, constables Ananda Das, Sona Kumar Pande, Pankaj Kundu, and civic volunteers Biplab Mondal, Deb Malya Patowari, Ashok Naskar, Joy, and others of physical assault, attempted murder, sexual violence, molestation, Islamophobic abuse, vandalism, theft, and criminal conspiracy, in addition to Priya Sen and Somnath Das stated the news report.

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