On 26 May, comedian Nalin Yadav shared a disturbing video on his Instagram account, showing him and his younger brother being assaulted by a group of men in Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh. Yadav alleged that the assaulters were “known affiliates of the ruling party”, who view him as an “anti-nationalist” after he was arrested alongside Munawar Faruqui at a comedy show in Indore three years ago.

Faruqui, Yadav and three others were arrested by the Indore Police on 1 January 2021 and charged with making derogatory comments about Hindu gods and goddesses, an accusation that they vehemently deny. Yadav spent 58 days in judicial custody following the incident and is currently out on bail.

“I thought if I left this place, my brother would find peace from this situation, but unfortunately, they broke my brother’s leg last year,” Yadav wrote on Instagram. “We filed the first FIR, but nothing happened. Two months later, they broke the same leg, and again we filed an FIR, but nothing happened. Finally, we decided to move away to a different city. It was tough financially and mentally, but we tried.”

Yadav told DeadAnt that the first incident took place late last year and the second one took place less than a month ago, both in his home town of Pithampur. He stated that when they went to file the FIR the police lodged it under Section 323 of the Indian Penal Code (which deals with punishment for voluntarily causing hurt). “Usmein banda ek din ke liye bhi andar nahin jaata, (A person doesn’t even get jailed for a day under this section),” Yadav told us. “Dusri baar bhi same section mein FIR likhwai aur unn logon ko kuch nahin hua. (The second time it happened, they filed the FIR under the same section, and nothing happened).”

Yadav also said that one month ago, an arrest warrant was delivered to his home for “fighting with those goons”. The FIR does not state any of the alleged victims’ names. He claimed that the arrest warrant was issued because there were two prior FIRs filed against him, which he was not made aware of. “Jab bhi main FIR likhwane jaa raha tha toh woh mere khilaf bhi ek farzi FIR darj kar rahe the (Whenever I went to file an FIR they were filing a phony one against me as well),” Yadav said.

Yadav and his legal counsel are planning to appeal this warrant in the High Court, arguing that he was never made privy to the previous FIRs that were filed against him.

Speaking to the Indian Express, a senior police official said that the police have taken cognizance of Yadav’s FIR and are investigating the case. “A chargesheet will soon be presented in court. As far as the notice is concerned, Yadav should not be concerned as we are only trying to inform the two parties about the cases filed to maintain peace. We are not siding with any party and following due legal process.”

In a 2022 interview with DeadAnt, Yadav had spoken about how performing comedy was becoming harder for him by the day. The comedian—who had helped kick-start the comedy scene in Indore—was forced to move to Delhi in the aftermath of the incident. But producers were still wary of putting him on a lineup, he told us at the time. To clear the debts that Yadav and his younger brother had incurred while he was in jail, he started working as a daily wage labourer. Yadav is still struggling to find stage time or a stable job.

“I have never posted about this because I just wanted to forget this incident as soon as possible, but it never left us alone,” Yadav wrote on Instagram. “Today, I am not a comedian anymore. I am not that person who can find laughter in disguise. We are just waiting for justice one day, though I’m not so hopeful about that, but we are trying each and every other day.”