Navi Mumbai: Student Thrashed in Vashi After Asking Others to Speak in Marathi, Mentions Raj Thackeray in WhatsApp Chat

A student was allegedly thrashed outside his college in Navi Mumbai for taking Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray's name and asking others to speak in Marathi in a WhatsApp group. According to reports, the student was one of the members of a college WhatsApp group, and some of them wrote in Hindi on Monday. Another student then replied in Marathi and asked others to speak in Marathi or else Raj Thackeray would come.

This comes after recent incidents of assaulting non-Marathi people in Mumbai and Maharashtra by MNS workers for not speaking the regional language, calling it an insult. In one of the incidents, a worker in a public toilet was assaulted by Raj Thackeray's party workers for challenging them not to speak in Marathi. Earlier, an incident occurred in Mira-Bhayandar where MNS workers assaulted a sweet shop owner for the same reason.

Also Read | MNS Workers Remove Gujarati Signboards of Dhabas Along Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway (Watch Video).

Coming back to the recent incident, on the very next day at around 10.30 am, four students, including Faizan Naik, thrashed the student outside the college in the Vashi area of Navi Mumbai. A 20-year-old received serious injuries after Naik hit him on his head with a hockey stick, according to NDTV.

Adinath Budhwant, Assistant Commissioner of Police, said that the case has been registered against the accused involved in the incident. “A First Information Report has been registered at the Vashi police station in connection with a dispute that arose between two groups. The dispute was a result of an argument between two individuals over comments on the group," Assistant Commissioner of Police (Vashi) Adinath Budhwant told NDTV.

The police said that the student was also beaten with a stick. An investigation is on, and the action will be taken against the accused, and the accused will be arrested. 

MNS Spokesperson Gajanan Kale and other MNS workers met with the police officials and asked for strict action against the culprits. They also met with the injured students and their families.