An Indore court in Madhya Pradesh has acquitted Taslim Ali, a hate crime survivor and a bangle seller from Uttar Pradesh, of all charges, including those under the POCSO Act.
Ali was attacked by a Hindutva mob in August 2021 for selling bangles in “a Hindu locality” and subsequently jailed for 115 days on accusations of sexually harassing a 13-year-old girl and carrying two Aadhaar and voter identification cards.
A resident of Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh, Ali was arrested on August 23, 2021, a day after he filed a complaint against a group of around six Bajrang Dal activists for assaulting him and robbing ₹10,000 in the Banganga area of Indore. The complaint against him was registered on the same day.
The video of him being brutally beaten by a Hindu mob sparked outrage across the country. Though four men were arrested in the case, they were granted bail within a month.
In a video shared by journalist Kashif Kakvi on X, Ali thanked the lawyers who helped in his legal fight. “Everyone should be treated with kindness,” he said.
The judgment order is not out yet.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.