Ali says he now wants peace and to leave this incident behind. He said he doesn't harbour hate for the city of Indore, where he made a living selling bangles, walking from colony to colony. "All residents of Indore are my brothers and sisters," he said.
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Tasleem Ali, a bangle seller who was assaulted by a group of men in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore district in August 2021 over allegations of harassing Hindu women, was acquitted by a district court on Monday in a case for which he spent 107 days in jail.
In videos that went viral following the incident on August 22, 2021, Ali, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, was seen being beaten up and abused by men who accused him of harassing women on the pretext of selling bangles on Rakhi. The videos also showed the men warning Ali not to set foot again in a “Hindu kshetra (area)”.
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Following the incident, once he filed a complaint against his attackers, Ali was booked by the police and spent 107 days in jail based on a complaint by a 13-year-old girl. He was slapped with sections under the POCSO Act and the IPC.
After the acquittal, Ali told The Indian Express, “I am both happy and sad – this is a bittersweet experience for me. I want to thank those who stood by me and those who filed an FIR against me and thrashed me. I was implicated in a false case over religion and my name.”
Following the assault, Ali had filed a complaint at Banganga police station. He had alleged that a group of five or six men beat him up after asking his name, hurled communal slurs, and looted him of Rs 10,000, his phone and documents, including his Aadhaar card. Four men were arrested based on the FIR. But soon afterwards, Ali was booked and arrested.
Ali says he now wants peace and to leave this incident behind. He said he doesn’t harbour hate for the city of Indore, where he made a living selling bangles, walking from colony to colony. “All residents of Indore are my brothers and sisters,” he said.
On spending 107 days in jail, he said, “Initially, there was a lot of struggle; I was scared. Then, I was put in solitary confinement. I did not mind the loneliness. The jailers and police were nice to me. I was not harassed. I had faith in the Constitution and the judiciary.”
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Since being granted bail in December 2021, Ali has returned to the streets of Indore to sell bangles once more. “I was anxious, but I have six children to feed. This is what my grandfather and father did. I travel to colonies, melas and other places from UP to Punjab and Indore. I will keep coming back to Indore,” he said.
While a detailed judgement is awaited, Ali’s lawyer, Sheikh Aleem, said the District and Additional Sessions Judge V Rashmi Baltar acquitted him since the witnesses, including the minor girl, turned hostile.
“The allegation that he had changed his identity to a Hindu name, based on the recovery of an Aadhaar card with the name Golu written on it, fell apart in court. Ali’s village name is Golu, and he rectified this on the Aadhaar card later, but he had the older ID with him on that fateful day. Two village pradhans also testified on this aspect,” he said.
On whether he would pursue the case against his assaulters, Ali said, “They apologised to me. I want to move on. I have nothing against anyone.”
Anand Mohan J is an award-winning Senior Correspondent for The Indian Express, currently leading the bureau’s coverage of Madhya Pradesh. With a career spanning over eight years, he has established himself as a trusted voice at the intersection of law, internal security, and public policy.
Based in Bhopal, Anand is widely recognized for his authoritative reporting on Maoist insurgency in Central India. In late 2025, he provided exclusive, ground-level coverage of the historic surrender of the final Maoist cadres in Madhya Pradesh, detailing the backchannel negotiations and the "vacuum of command" that led to the state being declared Maoist-free.
Expertise and Reporting Beats
Anand’s investigative work is characterized by a "Journalism of Courage" approach, holding institutions accountable through deep-dive analysis of several key sectors:
National Security & Counter-Insurgency: He is a primary chronicler of the decline of Naxalism in the Central Indian corridor, documenting the tactical shifts of security forces and the rehabilitation of surrendered cadres.
Judiciary & Legal Accountability: Drawing on over four years of experience covering Delhi’s trial courts and the Madhya Pradesh High Court, Anand deconstructs complex legal rulings. He has exposed critical institutional lapses, including custodial safety violations and the misuse of the National Security Act (NSA).
Wildlife Conservation (Project Cheetah): Anand is a leading reporter on Project Cheetah at Kuno National Park. He has provided extensive coverage of the biological and administrative hurdles of rewilding Namibian and South African cheetahs, as well as high-profile cases of wildlife trafficking.
Public Health & Social Safety: His recent investigative work has uncovered systemic negligence in public services, such as contaminated blood transfusions causing HIV infections in thalassemia patients and the human cost of the fertilizer crisis affecting rural farmers.
Professional Background
Tenure: Joined The Indian Express in 2017.
Locations: Transitioned from the high-pressure Delhi City beat (covering courts, police, and labor issues) to his current role as a regional lead in Madhya Pradesh.
Notable Investigations: * Exposed the "digital arrest" scams targeting entrepreneurs.
Investigated the Bandhavgarh elephant deaths and the impact of kodo millet fungus on local wildlife.
Documented the transition of power and welfare schemes (like Ladli Behna) in Madhya Pradesh governance.
Digital & Professional Presence
Author Profile: Anand Mohan J at Indian Express
Twitter handle: @mohanreports ... Read More
