BENGALURU: “Had local Muslim youths not come to my rescue, I don’t think I would have been alive today,” Jayanthi R, mother of Naveen P who is accused of posting a derogatory post on Facebook, said on Wednesday.
Jayanthi, a resident of Kaval Byrasandra, lives with her husband and family members 500 metres away from her younger brother, Congress MLA Akhand Srinivas Murthy’s residence.
On Tuesday evening, the family members were watching TV while Naveen and his wife had gone out to buy groceries.
“My daughter who lives in Vijayanagar had come to our house with her family after a person near their house tested positive for Covid-19. We’re watching a TV serial when suddenly a mob gathered in front of our home. At 8.30pm, the mob vandalised and set fire to bikes. I got all my children and grandchildren to go to the terrace from where they shifted to neighbouring houses.”
Jayanthi stayed back as there were gold ornaments and valuables. “Though there was a lot of commotion outside, I did assume that the houses would not be attacked. Also, I was not aware that it was related to us. I tried to enquire with some of the men on the street, but they did not see anything. I had never seen these men in our area before. The situation was gradually worsening and I panicked. There was no way I could flee as there were hundreds of people on the streets burning cars and bikes,” she recalled.
“At 10.30pm, four-five local Muslim youths came to my house and told me that the situation would worsen. They said I should immediately go with them. By then, the mob entered our compound. One person told the youths escorting me that they were doing injustice to their religion by protecting Naveen’s mother. The locals warned the mob that no woman or child should be touched,” she said.
“I was literally carried across our compound to the next building. In less than a minute, our building was set on fire,” she said.
According to Jayanthi, it was a well-planned attack that targeted only people associated with her brother.