UP Police beat SP leader
In picture: A policeman holds Swaly Chaudhary as Police Inspector Lokendra Singh [not in picture] beats him with a stick.Screenshot

A video of a police official thrashing a leader of the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh is going viral on social media. Although the police officer doing the beating has since been suspended, social media seems to agree with him, showing a deep-rooted distrust of the Indian polity among the masses. 

The incident dates back to Sunday, May 21, when the cops brought back a little over a dozen people to the Sadar Kotwali police station in Badaun following reports of gunfire during some dispute between the two groups. Among those detained by the police was Swale Chaudhary, district unit president of the SP youth wing. He is the one at the receiving end of the beating. 

The video shows Police Inspector Lokendra Singh first showing a fellow cop how to hold Chaudhary to make the beating more effective. When the other policeman complies, the inspector proceeds to land a few choice blows on the derriere of the student leader, even as his screams turn to whimpers. The video ends after the inspector calls for a belt to beat Chaudhary.

Watch the video here: 

A PTI report says SSP Chandra Prakash came across the video, "after which senior officials were informed and Singh was placed under suspension." 

Social media, however, seems to be reacting with glee at the beating administered to the SP leader in a state where reports of such thrashings generally have the common man as the victim. Read some of their reactions here:

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