India: Muslim family attacked by mob

CHANDIGARH, India

With a mob telling them to “go to Pakistan,” a Muslim family was beaten with hockey sticks and iron rods in their house in northern India, officials and local media reported Saturday.

“An 11-member family was injured after an argument over playing cricket escalated into a brawl in a village beneath Bhondsi on Thursday evening,” reported the local Hindustan Times.

The family included several women and children, and one 2-year-old was injured, reported local broadcaster NDTV, adding that the mob numbered 25-30 people.

Officials said the attack took place in Gurugram, in the northern state of Haryana, when many were celebrating the Hindu festival of Holi.

Local police have registered a case and made arrests.

Subhash Boken, a spokesman for the Gurugram Police, told Anadolu Agency: "Initially there was a brawl. At first there were few attackers and then they called more people after the brawl escalated.

“They entered the house of the Muslim family and attacked them.

“A case has been registered and an investigation is going on."

Local media reported that the victims were told to “go to Pakistan.”

“The incident took place at the house of Mohammad Sajid, who hails from Uttar Pradesh,” reported the Deccan Herald. A report on the case stated that Sajid's nephew said the incident began when two men came to them on a bike and said: "What are you doing here? Go to Pakistan and play."

The report added that the family alleged that assault was planned by a group backed by a right-wing Hindu supremacist group.