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EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, AUG 3: A teenager was tonsured for "harassing" a foreigner in the Jama Masjid here.
When 18-year-old Muhammad Abid went up to the minar of the Jama Masjid to kill time before the evening namaaz on Sunday, he was asked to come down by the Jama Masjid staff. The staff alleged he sexually harassed a foreigner in the Masjid premises. He was taken to the office of the Naib Imam and allegedly beaten up. Meanwhile, Yahiah Bukhari, son of Imam Abdul Bukhari, was summoned. He slapped the boy and tonsured his head even as he protested vehemently, before his parents could arrive on the scene.
Nobody knows if he actually molested the lady and nobody seems to be interested in finding out.
Yahiah Bukhari felt it was the best way to teach the boy a lesson and make sure he did not repeat the act. ``In fact, I showed him sympathy by not handing him over to the police. They would have beaten him up and tortured him, I just tonsured his head,'' said Bukhari.
He even says he slapped him. ``He committed a sinby behaving in such a manner with a foreigner in a religious place. He deserved to be punished,'' said Bukhari, insisting that in these circumstances, it is not wrong to take the law into one's hands. Tonsuring a teenager's head is the best punishment he could think of.
The incident created a furore in the neighbourhood. Hundreds of residents gathered in front of the Jama Masjid police station and urged the police to file a first information report against Bukhari. ``I don't care if they file a FIR. I cannot tolerate this kind of behavior,'' said Bukhari.
The boy was surrounded by a group of 12 to 15 foreigners before the Masjid's staff rescued him, claim the staff members of Jama Masjid. According to Abid, the foreigner had just said he ``looks like the molester''.
``Just as she said that, without confirming it or listening to my side of the story, I was dragged by five men,'' said Abid.
The real issue is lost in the debate over system of justice. ``Even if he had molested the lady, why was he nothanded over to the police? Who is Bukhari to beat him up and tonsure him?'' said an angry resident.
Meanwhile, the local police station has registered a case. ``The case has been registered today under sections which imply wrongful confinement and insult,'' said S B K Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central district.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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