A video of a saffron-clad seer allegedly delivering a hate speech against a community and issuing a "rape threat" surfaced on social media on Thursday, prompting police to initiate a probe into the matter.
The Uttar Pradesh police have started investigating a video in which a Hindu priest is seen allegedly threatening to kidnap and rape Muslim women while addressing a gathering outside a mosque in Sitapur district.
The two-minute video containing the hate speech is said to have been recorded on April 2 when the seer identified as Bajrang Muni Das, the mahant of Maharshi Shri Lakshman Das Udasin Ashram in Khairabad town, was taking out a procession on the occasion of Navratri and Hindu New Year.
The video shows a man clad in saffron robes addressing a gathering from inside a jeep. Speaking on a microphone, the man appears to make communal and provocative remarks as the crowd cheers him with shouts of "Jai Shri Ram".
The saffron-clad seer can be heard saying in the video that if any Hindu girl is teased by a man belonging to a particular community, he would himself rape a woman of that community.
It is alleged that when his procession reached near a mosque, he started giving the hate speech on a loudspeaker.
After the video surfaced on social media, the Sitapur police initiated a probe under Additional Superintendent of Police North Rajiv Dikshit.
Legal action will be ensured as per rules on the basis of the facts and evidences that surface in the probe, police said.
(With inputs from Agencies)
