A man in India’s Haryana State has claimed that his arm was chopped off by some people from the Hindu community.
The same man also stands accused of sodomising a child whose family allegedly attacked him.
Though the incident is said to have occurred on 24 August, it only went viral on social media late Thursday.
Twenty-eight-year-old Ikhlaq, a Muslim man, claimed the incident took place in Panipat.
Speaking to Sputnik, the victim’s brother revealed that Ikhlaq left his hometown in Uttar Pradesh to look for a job on 23 August. He was sitting in a park on 24 August just when some youths supposedly approached him (Ikhlaq) and asked him his name.
In his police complaint, Ikhlaq said: "As soon as they got to know of my identity, they assaulted me and fled. Later when I came to senses, I went to a nearby house to request water. However, the occupants of the house dragged me inside and beat me up. I realised that they were the same people who had thrashed me in the park."
He also alleged that just as the youths noticed his Islamic lucky charm “786” tattoed on his arm, they “chopped off my right arm below the elbow with a wood cutting machine in their house and left him at the railway tracks". In Islam, 786 is often used to represent the Arabic phrase Bismillah (in the name of god).
Speaking to Sputnik, Inspector Ankit Nandal said an initial investigation suggests Ikhlaq had sodomised a child and he might have injured himself while fleeing.
"On the night of 23 August, Ikhlaq allegedly kidnapped a child from his house and took him to a park. At midnight, the child's family members woke up and started looking for the missing child," the officer said.
After a brief search, the child was found in a park, located near railway tracks."The family of the child alleged that the two did not have their clothes on, following which a scuffle took place. After a few minutes, Ikhlaq fled the place in the darkness," Nandal told Sputnik.
Police said the next day, the GRP (Railway Police) found Ikhlaq near the railway track with his arm chopped off.
"Ikhlaq was hospitalised and he made a statement that the family members of the child cut his arm. Both the parties have filed a complaint and police have started an investigation," Nandal, said, adding that the child has already narrated his ordeal before the magistrate.