UP's Sitapur hate speech: Priest arrested and sent to judicial custody

New Delhi, Apr 13: The priest who had given "rape threat" to women of Muslim community has been arrested by the Uttar Pradesh cops on Wednesday.

Mahant Bajrang Muni was arrested and sent to 14-day judicial custody.

The priest, however, claimed that the video has been "distorted" to frame him under "false charges". "There are 80 per cent Muslims, 20 per cent Hindus in Khairabad. Hindus' condition in such a situation needn't be told. During our 'kalash yatra', they were prepared with sticks and stones to repeat Karauli-like incident but due to police, it didn't happen," he said.

He also talked of retribution. "If they'll harass our daughters, their daughters won't be safe too. The video is distorted to fabricate charges against me," he said. The National Commission for Women on Friday wrote to the Director-General of Police of Uttar Pradesh about the alleged incident in the Sitapur district.

NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma wrote to the UP DGP condemning the remarks made by Bajrang Muni Das and sought an FIR against him. NCW said it sent a letter to the DGP after coming across a Twitter post enclosing a video of the priest who made the threat while addressing a gathering at the Sitapur district.

"Women are their target, whether it is Hindus threatening Muslims or Muslims threatening Hindus. Though we're taking such complaints again and again and taking them up with police, it seems cases aren't decreasing," Rekha Sharma told ANI. "People talking like this in public about raping women of a certain community is not acceptable. We have written today itself to UP DGP and I'm going to take up this matter personally with him. Whether they are religious Godmen or anybody, they should be taken to task," she said.