Bengali-speaking Muslim woman accuses Delhi police of abduction, assault, and anti-Muslim profiling
Bengali-speaking mother says police abducted her and beat her son while accusing them of being illegal migrants from Bangladesh
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — A Bengali-speaking Muslim woman has accused Delhi police of abducting and assaulting her and her child, saying she was targeted solely for her language and identity in what rights advocates describe as a growing wave of Islamophobic policing under India’s ruling Hindu nationalist government.
The woman, identified as Sajanu Parveen, said she was taken from her home in a slum settlement by four men in plainclothes who claimed to be from the police’s Criminal Investigation Department. She was reportedly shown no warrant and was taken, along with her son, to an undisclosed location.
Parveen, a migrant from the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, said the officers questioned her identity and accused her of being an “illegal Bangladeshi” based solely on her origin. “When I told them we were from Malda, they said everyone in West Bengal is Bangladeshi,” she said during a press conference.
The officers allegedly demanded proof of citizenship. Despite presenting her Aadhaar identity card—India’s national ID—the abuse continued. Parveen recounted being slapped, kicked in the stomach, and extorted for 25,000 Indian rupees ($300). She said her husband was summoned by phone and coerced into bringing the money.
Parveen’s account paints a chilling picture of extrajudicial harassment. “There is no CCTV footage from where they picked me up or where they took me,” she said, adding that she was forced to sign multiple documents without being informed of their content.
Her child was also reportedly assaulted during the ordeal. “One of them hit my son so hard, he bled from above his ear,” she said.
“They told us if we chanted ‘Jai Shri Ram,’ they would let us go,” she said, referring to a Hindu religious slogan that has increasingly been used by Hindu nationalist groups in India as a political weapon and a loyalty test, particularly against Muslims during mob violence and police harassment.
While Delhi Police have denied the allegations, calling them politically motivated, civil rights advocates argue the case reflects a broader and disturbing trend: the weaponization of anti-immigrant narratives to criminalize poor, Muslim, Bengali-speaking communities—especially those from border states like Assam and West Bengal.
Such accusations often disregard valid Indian identity documents and rely on profiling, perpetuating a dangerous atmosphere of fear among already marginalized populations. Human rights defenders say these tactics echo India’s escalating pattern of religious and ethnic discrimination, driven by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) majoritarian politics.
Parveen’s claims were highlighted by West Bengal’s chief minister, who accused Delhi authorities of using the “Bangladeshi” label as a tool to harass citizens for their ethnicity, religion, and language.
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