A man in Mumbai was allegedly thrashed by Shiv Sena workers after he posted a derogatory comment directed at Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Facebook. The incident took place in Wadala area earlier this week.
According to visuals aired by television channels, the man has been identified as Hiramani Tiwari, 30. He shared the controversial post on Facebook on December 19 under the name Rahul Tiwari. The post berated CM Uddhav for comparing the police action on Jamia Millia Islamia University students in Delhi protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act with the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
According to a report in The Indian Express, Tiwari had deleted the post after he got threats from some people, but a group of Shiv Sena workers on Sunday afternoon showed up at his residence and told him that Samadhan Jugdar wanted to meet him. Jugdar is a shakha pramukh in Wadala’s Shanti Nagar locality.
The men took Tiwari to Jugdar and beat him up. They even shaved his head. The entire incident took place outside the victim’s residence in Shanti Nagar. The man was thrashed in full public view but no one came to his rescue.
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Hiramani works for a pharmaceutical firm. He told the police that soon after his post on December 20, his friend Prakash Hasbe asked him why he had posted such a remark. Tiwari said he immediately apologised to Hasbe who is a Shiv Sena shakha pramukh in Wadala.
The video of the entire incident was released by Tiwari on Monday on Facebook. The man said he has lodged a complaint of assault and defamation against Jugdar. According to police, Jugdar also lodged a complaint against Tiwari for defaming the Chief Minister.
“I told the men that I had made a mistake. There was a lot of pressure on me to do so. The Shiv Sena can behave this way because it is in power and controls the police department. I do not understand why they have not registered an FIR. Police have given me protection because I am still facing a lot of pressure from the party,” he told the daily.