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Muslim boy in India beaten black and blue for posing with Hindu girls

Muhammad Riyaz was hunted down by a gang of locals in Mangaluru after a photo went viral on WhatsApp

Web Desk February 27, 2015

Muhammad Riyaz was hunted down by a gang of locals in Mangaluru after a photo went viral on WhatsApp. PHOTO COURTESY: BBC

A 20-year-old Muslim boy was badly beaten up allegedly by the ‘moral police’ in India’s southern state Mangaluru for posing in a picture with his Hindu female classmates.

The image, which went viral on Whatsapp, shows a college student lying on the laps of five female classmates and another male student sitting behind them, identified as Muhammad Riyaz.

Riyaz was hunted down by a gang of locals in Mangalore, driven to an isolated location and badly beaten, before being driven back, according to The Indian Express.

"After the photograph was circulated on social media sites, a vigilante group got other students from the college to identify the deviant youth and on learning that he was probably a Muslim, decided to attack him," Assistant Commissioner of Police Ravi Kumar told The Indian Express.

The computer science student has been admitted to a private hospital in the city.

Riyaz said he was "kidnapped" near his house when he was with his friends. The men blindfolded him and took him to an isolated location where they beat him with wooden sticks. Further, he said they asked him if he was Muslim and wanted to know why he took a photo with Hindu girls.

Riyaz's father has registered a complaint with the police, who have filed a case of abduction and attempt to murder.

COMMENTS (77)

A-Y | 9 years ago | Reply @ITGuyBangalore: Oh a case of pot calling kettle black, it is your countrymen who like to act and think they are holier than thou. We are just enjoying the moment.

Khurram Akhtar | 9 years ago | Reply It all started with the "two nation theory". Relentless and with no end in sight. Sad is we are the same people. Like the "Hutus and the Tutsies".

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Sunil | 9 years ago | Reply @Ghost: Some of our comments are not being published that's why. Partition happened for a reason. Maybe that is why this happened.

?Heck | 9 years ago | Reply Subcontinentals are driven by emotions, not by reason. It is almost like instinctual response. A peaceful street scene, in a second, may explode into a riot, fortunate if nobody is killed. What has happened with this boy is plain dumb, but then you can't reason with the unreasonable. As far as tarnishing India is concerned, at least acknowledge that it is not an official policy, in law, to discriminate against any individual or community. It will take time before India, a very diverse and pluralistic country, becomes totally riot free. Some here say this is the reason why Pakistan was created. So, as a corollary, can one say because Pakistan was created, Chirstians there are burned alive in a kiln or minorities decimated and driven out?

Hugh Slaman | 9 years ago | Reply So when a Muslim acts all secular by hanging out with girls and stuff, he gets punished for it? This is the sort of thing we were escaping when we made Pakistan, people!

zara haq | 9 years ago | Reply @ajeet: Now the boy will become a good muslim, and won’t mingle much with girls." But girls will remain bad hindus and will allow another guy in their lap to pose like this

goggi (Lahore) | 9 years ago | Reply It is such a beautiful pose

ajeet | 9 years ago | Reply Now the boy will become a good muslim, and won't mingle much with girls.

Salam | 9 years ago | Reply How can any Muslim defend such an immoral act by the Muslim boy. How on earth can any Indian justify the beating. Stop this petty responses and learn to respect each other's culture and religion

Vasu | 9 years ago | Reply This fight is not between Hindus and Muslims its between Conservatives and Liberals.

Vinod | 9 years ago | Reply India is changing from conservative to liberal. The elders of the society are still conservative and youngsters are liberals. When elders see such pictures they get angry and take law into their own hands. Some of the conservatives might have attacked him, which shouldn't have happened, girls are also responsible as the boy in posing for this indecent picture.

Shakil Khan | 9 years ago | Reply astonished some of coments actually suggesting he deserved this punishment! get a effing a life. its my own choice how i act and behave with my class fellows and friends. there is no porn here that its not accepted by society! he is merely punished because he is a muslim as such pictures are common among friends, wonder if he could attract same if he was hindu?

Gulwant Singh Bedi | 9 years ago | Reply @Gp65: Keep protecting your brethren. You must really hate Muslims. Just teenagers having a good time.

Ahmed | 9 years ago | Reply @VSingh: Agreed . We should forget what happened in the past and move forward to promote peace in our society and greater understanding between India and Pakistan . That's the only way our countries are going to progress in the future .

zara haq | 9 years ago | Reply And fake zara was saying dont bring religion into this and his own country fellows are bringing religion into this. @Milind: Yea we might have lunatics and we dont deny that and we want them taken to task. But if something like that happens in pakistan ,no gov official ever supports it and if that happens in pak, it means because of that india should start annihilating minorities. Then you have been suffocating way too many christians , so america and west nations with christian majority must also annihilate hindus to prove a point to you. And if ethics are concerened why girls arent beaten. What you did to shambu rathore the inspector general police who had raped a budding 14 year old tennis player Richika girhotra who eventually committed suicide. She wasnt a muslim. Then why no justice for her. Et why are you censoring me.

VSingh | 9 years ago | Reply Just watch the BBC documentary on partition. 1 million people died just because of starvation in that process and I would wonder if anyone would have heart to 'claim' that 'they' did it. Pakistan is a sovereign nation and you have every right to be proud of your country. But I am sure we do not need to pass the 'old baggage' to the young generation so that they can focus on more important issues and contribute for the good of their nations.

Khan | 9 years ago | Reply this is the real picture of secular india

Prada | 9 years ago | Reply ET will not let us Hindus provide a counter-argument. All comments that go against the headline is removed. What is the point of inviting comments at all? Your site. Your decision. My point was, imagine what would have happened to the boy if he was a Hindu in Pakistan doing the same thing this kid did. I am not justifying the despicable beating but this is the region we live in. There are more fanatics per inch in Asia then anywhere else.

Lion King | 9 years ago | Reply @someone: boy and girlfriend culture is massively common in Pakistan's cities

Milind | 9 years ago | Reply @Dr Priyanka - "This is a private matter between the girls and the boy." No its not. Had it been a Hindu boy on lap of Muslim girls, he would have been killed. Unless Muslims give up their pickiness behavior, we won't allow them take liberties with our religion or folks. "The boy is scarred for life. He will run away from girls" He should... Serves him right.

Lion King | 9 years ago | Reply While sympathizing with the boy I must say the girls should be thankful to him as it requires lot of hard self convincing to like an Indian girl

ajeet | 9 years ago | Reply Serves him right.

Jameel ur Rasheed | 9 years ago | Reply Not so different from Pakistan. In SIndh a Hindu doctor married a muslim girl. Got shot dead in his clinic along with two of his doctor friends. Pathetic!! And moral policing only comes in action during inter faith alleged crimes. Never saw anyone beaten blue and black over tourists raped in India. Haah!

the Skunk | 9 years ago | Reply So, much for Indian secularism. Waah India! Murderer Modi must be gloating with joy. Extremism exists in Pakistan and India and that is what has to be overcome. Salams

John | 9 years ago | Reply @ITGuyBangalore: No body talked to you Sir.You were found giving explanations on a Pakistani newspaper's website! eat this now.

Muslim | 9 years ago | Reply It is not fair .

Ahmed | 9 years ago | Reply @ABCD: I don't know . You tell me . Why is it so hard for Indians to not to come on a Pakistani news website and teach us about the problems our country is facing which they have absolutely no idea about . Kindly spare yourself of this burden . We are very well aware of these problems and are progressing towards solving these problems .

jb | 9 years ago | Reply Largest secular democracy? Please!

rama | 9 years ago | Reply Why he put the picture in the social , to show his masculinity?? In that case he deserves. it does not matter what religion he is

rama | 9 years ago | Reply @Strange: Yes , you are right

Vikram | 9 years ago | Reply Whoever hurt this guy should be punished according to the law.

ABCD | 9 years ago | Reply Why is it so hard for Pakistanis to say "Who cares about India" , rather than giving India a lesson about its society and people

Ahmed | 9 years ago | Reply @achal malhotra.: Agreed , no country is perfect in this world . You have your problems and we have ours and it's good to see that both of us are now serious in solving those problems . But identifying the problem is the first step in solving that problem and as far as I know is that you guys are simply not accepting the fact that it is an Hindu-Muslim issue . Listen to your own police commissioner , even he says that it is an Hindu-Muslim issue and for your information the Muslim boy is the one behind the girls and not the one on their lap .

Ahmed | 9 years ago | Reply @ITGuyBangalore: Firstly, it's not the boy in the lap and its the boy behind the girls who has been beaten by sticks . Secondly, even your police commissioner says that he was beaten for probably being a Muslim and thirdly, would you guys kindly stop with the ''if it would have happened in Pakistan then ........." . All I know is that it hasn't happened in Pakistan and hopefully it never will . It has happened in India and therefore you guys should deal with it.

zara | 9 years ago | Reply If a Hindu boy would have done this in Pakistan he would have beheaded till now. Do not bring religion in this. Its simply done by one of the girls brother of boyfriend.

Yash | 9 years ago | Reply Hope the police will get hold of the guilty and produse them in a court of law where an appropriate punished be given to them.

Fawad | 9 years ago | Reply @Huduga: I know what you are saying, it is too much for people to accept that it is not religion, but a way of life, bigger than religion or god. Please on't waste your breath here. It is good to try, but not right place to do so.

zara haq | 9 years ago | Reply Is there a law that one could be punished for that. Then why not first beat the girls who allowed him in the lap???

Huduga | 9 years ago | Reply @ITGuyBangalore: Mags why you trying to explain they will not understand they can't figure wether Shia is a Muslim u talking atheism dualism is too much..let them enjoy our small mistakes let us enjoy their indignation.

BruteForce | 9 years ago | Reply One piece of information not reported. The boy was not alone - his 2 friends were kidnapped too and they were Hindus. When you hide the truth, its actually a lie!

IT_Guy_Bangalore | 9 years ago | Reply @Gp65: .. "considering that this is from a small town, so inserting religion in this is unwarranted". Mangalore city has a literacy rate of 94%, much above average India. History of islam and catholic christianity is centuries old in this city. Also, this is a city with very very little religous violence for decades (i know, I have been living in Karnataka state for about 25 years). So with all probability, this really a dumb kid uploading a picture that offset the parents and then they beat the kid up. Not the right thing to do and looks like the boy's parents did file a police complaint. There is no religious angle to this. There have been cases of one Pramod Muthalik of "Ram Sena" making noises in Mangalore about girls going to bars / pubs, but there was a massive retaliation against him called "Pink Chaddi campaign" that left him totally powerless. see : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PinkChaddiCampaign

achal malhotra. | 9 years ago | Reply i still remember dialogue from rang de basanti - " koi bhi desh perfect nahi hota, usse perfect banana parta hai " as far as we are concerned we are on it and we we are very seriously on it. nonethe less doesnt justify this act , perpetrator must be taken to task. but i dont think it was a hindu - muslim issue, had it been a hindu guy lying on the lap, he would have been beaten by the brothers, father what so what not, given the patriarchial ecosystem . And i was dissapointed with alacrity with which many of you started drawing conclusion , but seriously you guys dont spare any mudslinging occasion.

IT_Guy_Bangalore | 9 years ago | Reply @akki : “Hardcore athiest hindu?” Respects, dude. Now you’ve knocked out me and everyone else in the room. I know i knocked you out on that. And most indians would understand what that means. It means, I'm born hindu and love the aspect of hinduism that questions the religion itself. And I'm a strong nonbeliever of god. Atheism in Hinduism is as old as hinduism itself (atleast 3500 years old). Look it up at : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AtheisminHinduism

Gp65 | 9 years ago | Reply first of all vigilantism is a crime. Those who beat up the boy did wrong. Hopefully his assailants will be caught by the police. Secondly there is a good chance he would have been beaten up even if he was a Hindu considering that this is from a small town, so inserting religion in this is unwarranted Thirdly - for those that associate this with Modi - police is a state subject and NDA is not in power in Karnatska. Also this has little do With secularism which comes into play when state discriminates on a religious basis. Finally, let us assume that this picture was of a Muslim boy lying in the lap of 5 Muslim girls in Pakistan, what fo all these hypocritical Pakistanis commenting here think would have happened to a) the boy b) the girls ? One would have heard of 6 honor killings.

akki | 9 years ago | Reply @ITGuyBangalore: And you again conveniently ignore the subject in my line 3 & 4. to be fair, that was expected. How about a nice little paragraph for that, since it's not your or my life we're talking about here. "Hardcore athiest hindu?" Respects, dude. Now you've knocked out me and everyone else in the room.

Shah (Berlin) | 9 years ago | Reply @Strange: i think its non your or mine buisness..why and how he took the picture...

Fun | 9 years ago | Reply Ill informed Pakistanis... Moral policing is an issue in Mangalore and Mysore. The boy was beaten not because he was a muslim, but for the pics. Pakistani media's necessity to establish it otherwise is understandable and is perfectly fine since it adds to the hatred of Pakistanis to India, which has brought the country this far (or down?). A few days ago, ET published a news where a muslim millionaire from South India rammed his car into a gate keeper because he didnt open the gates quickly. Interestingly the headline was "Indian man rams his car to a gatekeeper" and not "Muslim guy rams his car to a dalit gate keeper". Why? ET.. I am merely stating facts. Please publish.

Ahmed | 9 years ago | Reply @VSingh: I know that this has nothing to do with the creation of Pakistan and the reason why I posted such comments was too see how much fired up do Indians get when I bring up the issue of Partition of India and how we separated your "sacred mother land " . Call me a troll but I did indeed succeed in pointing out how much you Indians are still obsessed with us even after 67 years of partition . Pakistan exists and will keep on existing . You guys should accept this fact .

IT_Guy_Bangalore | 9 years ago | Reply @akki - "rant" ? I gave you some statistics.. and looks like you could not digest that. And I did talk about the issue at hand - taking a small crime that should have been dealt with the school teacher and parents and giving it a religious color. And "guys like me" ? I'm a hardcore atheist hindu (who eats meat and drinks alcohol) with a religous hindu wife who puts a christmas tree at home every christmas. And using some american slags does not make you look smart .. just reminds me of late 90's 2000's when I lived in San Francisco. .. sure, I have lot to learn.. but you have not even started yet...

Mohammad Ali Siddiqui | 9 years ago | Reply Modi says that religion of his government is India First then why Muslim boy has been beaten black and blue when he was posing himself with Hindu Girls? Was the Muslim boy Achoot and Hindu Girls Brehaman? Modi's slogan "India First" will only apply when his government gives equal rights in every respect to Muslims living in India, otherwise, it is better for Modi to say "Hindus First", rather than saying "India First".

VSingh | 9 years ago | Reply @Ahmed: There are more Muslims in India even today, than the population of entire Pakistan so before you ponder on the issue of creation of Pakistan, please read little more about it. Now this has nothing to do with Pakistan or its creation and will be dealt by concerned authorities in an appropriate manner so do not worry. But I am amused how Pakistani media picks such stories and the way they present them. I wonder what would be the reaction of people in Pakistan if a Hindu/Sikh boy has a photo in a similar manner with muslim Pakistani girls! How many Hindu girls are abducted and converted in Pakistan or how minorities in general (including Shias, Ahmadis) are treated in your country....In a country so big where we have 1.25 billion people, things do happen but no one is above law and will be dealt with accordingly.

akki | 9 years ago | Reply @ITGuyBangalore: And then there are guys like you. Your rant fails miserably to answer the issue at hand. And who gave you the Hindu boys drawn-and-quartered stories, homie? Guess you are mixing it up with the several Hindu boy lynching and burning incidents in India, mostly for liking a HINDU girl beyond their caste. Still a lot to learn yourself, dude. Still a lot. That should do it for you.

IT_Guy_Bangalore | 9 years ago | Reply @shah - Life of poor Muslim in India…feel sorry for them. Even I do... Few days back, times of india published an article on Indian minority. EVERY single minority, including christians, sikhs, jains, jews etc have a income better than the majority hindus, except for muslims. This also inline with muslims having lowest literacy rate among all communities in india and also even good percentage of the ones that are educated are in madrasas (India has largest number of madrasas in south asia, more than pakistan and bangladesh). Do you see a pattern here ?

Anonymous | 9 years ago | Reply Silly to give a religious tone to it. A picture like that in smaller places(which often are conservative) in India might have evoked a similar reaction, independent of the religion of boys or girls.

unknown | 9 years ago | Reply Moral Police???

achal malhotra. | 9 years ago | Reply sometime people ask me , why indians read pakistan dailies that judiciously because pakistan does real journalism about india by highlighting every wrong in our society since this episode was not covered anywhere . I feel there are many shortcoming, evils in india and we are commited to eradicate it. i may tell my many pakistani friends that i have about 20 muslim friends .

Ahmed | 9 years ago | Reply This is nothing . Just search for the bombay and gujrat riots on the internet and the you will find that the number of muslims who died is quite overwhelming . Have you all forgotten that riot scene in Slumdog Millionaire whch shows how muslims were ruthlessly killed . This boy is lucky to be alive .

shah | 9 years ago | Reply Life of poor Muslim in India...feel sorry for them.

Abhi | 9 years ago | Reply I am suprised by the Pakistani comments here. I want to ask just one simple question, is this kind of beahvour right as per Islamic scriptures? I thought Muslim Men and Women should not display this kind of behaviour unless they are married . Now instead of condemning such unislamic behaviour Pakistanis here are trying to defend his action, what a gross hypocrisy!

LS | 9 years ago | Reply To All the Pakistanis who are commenting here asking for "Indian Trolls" to respond... I would say he was lucky to have survived irrespective of religion. Given the cultural back-ground that exists in towns this kind of photo is like shooting yourself in the foot. Had this been in a larger city no one would have blinked an eye. Here is another side of things too http://riseofhindustan.blogspot.com/2014/01/muslims-harrassing-hindu-boy-for-giving.html So its both ways so cool down and accept the fact that he isn't dead, had this been in Pakistan even in a high-class college/city the guy would have been dead by now and those demanding Justice for those in Pakistan would have left high and dry because when National Leaders are shot dead in broad daylight and they don't get justice what's the life of a common man in Pakistan? At least in India Police is working to get him justice and have already arrested two of his attackers.

Ahmed | 9 years ago | Reply @ITGuyBangalore: Look at this guy . Typical Indian . Instead of accepting the fact that they're society is becoming intolerant and that they should be doing something about it they are here telling us our problems . Serioulsy dude identifying a problem is the first step in solving it so kndly accept the fact that your society is intolerant .

amir jafri | 9 years ago | Reply the report does not say the "moral" police was hindu or muslim......if muslim then they must be commended and complimented. such kind of westoxicated behaviour musrt be condemned, be it by hindu or muslim. it is good that he was beaten black and bluie, and it is good that you printed it so that muslims in pakistan stay away from such westoxicated , low class behaviour.

someone | 9 years ago | Reply Well lets see how many Pakistanis , waiting for Indian trolls here, would like to see a Muslim boy in the lap of their own daughters or sisters like that and posting the pics on internet.

IT_Guy_Bangalore | 9 years ago | Reply Wow... look at every single pakistani holier-than-thou response here. Would love to see a picture of a hindu boy on lap of few muslim girls going viral in pakistan. The boy would be CUT into pieces and fed to dogs, for starter... and his family would be dead by next day. BTW, I have been living in Karnataka (state where Manguluru belongs) - the last hindu muslim clash I saw was in 1992 - it was really a minor clash with no one dead and few folks with bruises. And one of the longest serving Members of parliament in delhi from the state was Mr CK Jaffer Sahrif (a muslim, if I really need to point out, in a city of 90% hindus). Replicate that, celebrate that, and then talk to us...

abc | 9 years ago | Reply The way he posed would definitely attract some reaction and here we go he got what he wanted.

JD | 9 years ago | Reply I guess any boy, regardless of faith, should be beaten black and blue for posing like this. #morality

Strange | 9 years ago | Reply I, as a Pakistani-American Muslim feel that the boy was beaten maybe questionable but what was the need to take pictures lying in the lap of young girls and then having it posted on the Internet? Why do such strange things and then have them displayed at the social media cites? One should be sensitive to the sensitivities of the society one lives in and not violate their sensibilities.

zara haq | 9 years ago | Reply And who will give him justice???

jssidhoo | 9 years ago | Reply Not good no one should be singled out because of his religion

Danyal | 9 years ago | Reply None of the mainstream Indian news channels covered this story apart from small local platforms like "News Karnataka". Why would they want to know if he is "Muslim" so badly before beating him up? This, children, is why Pakistan exists.

Ahmed | 9 years ago | Reply So much for secular India. This is probably the reason why Pakistan was created . Glad with what our founding fathers did for us by creating a separate homeland for us where we can live with honor and dignity . Thank you Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Muhammad Iqbal for Pakistan . You both were indeed one of the greatest intellectuals the world has ever seen .

Dr Priyanka | 9 years ago | Reply This is a private matter between the girls and the boy. I donot find anything offensive about this picture. The boy is scarred for life. He will run away from girls. Very unhealthy for modern Indian society. Hope the cops take stern action against these mangalorean sickos.

Gost-Reply | 9 years ago | Reply @Ghost.... these trolls are not in silence. they are busy in fabricating stories like a suspicious-pak-boat (and many more). and then they will show up with a new serial of digital terrorism.

Singh | 9 years ago | Reply I as an Indian feel ashamed. Occasional aberrance should not be constructed as a rule. But such things should not happen even in isolation, This moral policing should stop and we will need to make more sincere efforts to educate the misguided youth who have taken upon themselves to teach others proper social behaviour. Sorry Md Riyaz, I apologise.

Shah (Berlin) | 9 years ago | Reply Now indian trolls waiting for an answer...I pretty sure they will find a reason for this one as well....Shameful nation..!!!

zuby | 9 years ago | Reply wait WHAT no out cry from the indian's, well there is a suprise.....

Ghost | 9 years ago | Reply moment of silence for all the indian trolls who come here to vent their frustration :p

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