Mob assaults, strips three men for ‘stealing phones’ in Delhi; no arrests yet

In a purported video of the incident, the mob could be seen assaulting the victims with wooden sticks

Three men were stripped naked and beaten up by a mob for allegedly stealing mobile phones in north Delhi’s Narela, police said on January 13, adding that a video of the incident had gone viral on social media.

According to the police, a PCR call was received on Saturday around 11.56 a.m., where the caller alleged that he saw a mob of 30 people tying up the hands of three men, then allegedly stripping them naked.

“The caller said that he had come to drop his sister to the Narela railway station, and on his way back, he saw the mob beating the three men, who had allegedly snatched someone’s mobile phone. He subsequently alerted the police,” an officer said.

In the videos of the incident that went viral, the men, aged between 25 to 30, could be seen standing in front of a shop while the mob, comprising men, stripped them naked. The mob could also be heard hurling abuses, pulling the men by their hair, assaulting them with wooden sticks and hitting them in the groin. A member of the mob could also be seen setting the alleged snatchers’ clothes on fire.

Based on the complainant’s statement, a case was registered at Narela Police Station under Sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 355 (assault on any person intending to dishonour), and 34 (criminal act done by several people with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, police said.

“A video of the incident, gone viral on social media, has come on record. All efforts are being made to trace the victims and offenders,” DCP (Outer North) Ravi Kumar Singh said.

An officer added that the mob in question did not hand the three men over to the police, and decided to take matters into its own hands. “It is yet to be verified whether the three victims were caught stealing mobile phones,” he added.