Madhubani: A Muslim labourer was brutally assaulted by a group of people in Bihar’s Madhubani district after being labelled a “Bangladeshi”, police said, as a video of the attack circulated widely on social media.
The incident took place on 30 December in Chakdah village under the Rajnagar police station area. The victim, who sustained severe facial injuries, was taken for medical treatment. Doctors said his condition could have been fatal had the assault continued.
Police registered a first information report on the basis of the victim’s statement. Yogendra Kumar, the superintendent of police in Madhubani, said the attackers had been identified and a team formed under the supervision of the sub-divisional police officer to make arrests. “The situation is under control,” he said.
According to the police investigation, the man is not from Bangladesh but a resident of Supaul district in Bihar. Officers said they acted after verifying the location shown in the viral video, which depicts a man being beaten while those around him accuse him of being a foreign national.
In his statement, the victim said he had just finished eating at a shop when a group of people confronted him. “They started saying I was a Bangladeshi and beat me badly,” he said, adding that 40 to 50 people were involved. He alleged that some in the crowd threatened to take him to a Kali temple and sacrifice him, and to bury him alive.
“I am not a Bangladeshi. I am a poor labourer with small children,” he said. “If something happens to me, what will happen to my family?”
Villagers gave differing accounts of the events leading up to the assault. Some said the man had been asked to chant “Jai Shri Ram” and was attacked after he initially refused, while others claimed the beating continued even after he complied. A woman from the village said the man was targeted because he was Muslim and no one intervened as he was attacked.
Another villager said the victim was working as a labourer under a local contractor and had no prior dispute. “He was a good man who kept to himself,” the villager said.
Madhubani police appealed to the public not to share unverified or provocative content online, warning that misinformation could inflame communal tensions.
