On April 17, cops lathi-charged a group of Muslims who had congregated for Friday Namaaz at a mosque in the town of Haveri, Karnataka in complete defiance of the social distancing guidelines and the nationwide lockdown that was imposed in the wake of the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak.
In the video, Muslim devotees could be seen exiting the mosque, following the Friday Namaaz when they were thrashed individually by the cops standing there.
#IndiaUnderLockdown: Cops resort to lathicharge as people gathered at a mosque for Friday prayers amid lockdown in #Haveri. pic.twitter.com/9P7PGsjMGU
— NEWS9 (@NEWS9TWEETS) April 17, 2020
Friday Namaaz in Belgaum proved costly
Earlier, a video emerged on social media where Karnataka police were seen thrashing people as they left the Mosque after Namaz, and were violating the lockdown. In the video, a group of Muslims could be seen coming out of the Mosque after offering Namaz.
At that point, the police took action against the congregation in the bid to disperse the crowd that was violating the lockdown. In the lockdown order, it was specifically mentioned that all religious institutions would also remain closed for the period of 21-days of the lockdown.
Namaazis attack cops
On April 3, a large gathering of Muslims in Karnataka’s Hubbali district attacked police officials when they tried to stop them from offering namaaz en masse amidst the nationwide lockdown to blunt the spread of coronavirus. 4 police officials, including one woman constable, were injured by Muslim youths as they pelted stones at the police personnel for stopping them from congregating amidst the looming threat of the Chinese Virus.
The cops had sustained minor injuries and were admitted to KIMS hospital for treatment. According to Police Commissioner R Dileep, an investigation into stone pelting incident has been ordered and suspected individuals involved in the attack against the police personnel have been detained.
