Bajrang Muni Das, seer who gave rape threats to Muslim women in UP, arrested

Bajrang Muni Das, a seer from Uttar Pradesh who allegedly threatened Muslim women with rape in Sitapur, was arrested on Wednesday. Sitapur superintendent of police RP Singh said the seer will soon be presented in the court, according to news agency ANI.

A purported video of the controversial seer from April 2 was shared widely on social media in which he can be seen making hateful remarks against Muslim women outside a mosque during a procession. Das had threatened that if any Hindu woman is teased by a Muslim man, he will rape a woman of the latter’s community. While he gave the speech, the crowd around applauded, while some police personnel present at the spot apparently remained silent spectators, the video showed.

HT has not independently verified the authenticity of the video.

The incident drew the attention of the National Commission for Women (NCW), who wrote to the UP director general of police to lodge an FIR against Das. In a statement, the commission said it was also seeking “appropriate measures from the police to curb people from using such outrageous language for women and not be a mute spectator in such incidents”.

On April 8, a case was registered against Das, with UP ADG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar saying that stringent action will be taken against the accused.

Das, however, claimed that the video has been “distorted” to frame him under “false charges”.