Just when you think there couldn’t be something more disturbing that the visuals of a Muslim bangle seller being beaten up in full public view, there’s News18 helpfully making you think again.

The incident occured in Indore on Sunday when 25-year-old Tasleem was thrashed in public, the assailants threatened him not to come to the area again. Three of the men involved in the case have been arrested.

As it is with such cases, politicians have jumped in saying one shouldn’t communalise the incident, while doing exactly that. Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra said the bangle seller had two Aadhaar cards with different names: one Hindu and one Muslim. He also claimed that he was trying to do “love jihad” under the garb of selling bangles to Hindu women during the festive season. Note that the police has not yet made statements on recovering two Aadhaar cards from Tasleem.

Yet that didn’t stop News18 MP Chhattisgarh’s anchor from spinning the story and wondering if Tasleem could have saved himself from getting thrashed had he not changed his name. The anchor repeatedly stated during the broadcast that the issue is very complex now that a “love jihad” angle has been discovered. By who, what’s the proof, you ask? Don’t expect News18 to bother with such basic journalistic questions.

The show was pushed on social media with assertions like “selling bangles is an excuse for love jihad!”, “what is the bangle seller’s religion?”, “did he change his name for love jihad?”.

The show was sponsored by Cock Distemper by Raipur-based Imdadi Group.