At a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka launched an aggressive campaign against the ruling Congress, calling them a “sleeping sarkara”, three major back-to-back cases of ‘suspected’ moral policing have been reported from various parts of the state in less than a week.
Karnataka’s home minister G Parameshwara recently announced an anti-communal wing to check instances of moral policing after the state saw an increase in such cases along the coastal Karnataka region. Parameshwara stated that the “decision to institute such a unit came after the state observed that “people were living in an atmosphere of fear” due to rising communal incidents.
“I have issued strict instructions that social harmony must be maintained. Moral policing should not be allowed at any cost,” the home minister had said. “If the home department does not stop the communal issue, there are chances that the problem will grow bigger,” he had said.
The cases were reported in Belgavi, Chikkamagalur, and Hangal where interfaith couples or relatives were allegedly attacked and assaulted by groups of miscreants.
IN HANGAL: ATTACKED, ABUSED, GANG-RAPED
The recent case of moral policing from Hangal town in North Karnataka’s Haver district saw a group of men attacking an interfaith couple who were staying at a lodge. In their statement, the couple said they were abused, and the man was kicked several times, while the woman’s clothes were thrown and both beaten up. The woman, in her police complaint, further alleged that she was gang-raped by seven of the accused persons, and later attempts were made to kidnap and murder the couple.
The incident took place on January 8, but came to light two days later, when a video of the attacks went viral on social media.
The first FIR was filed on January 10, where cases related to trespass, unlawful assembly and rioting, criminal intimidation, causing hurt, and assault or criminal force against women, with the intention to outrage their modesty, were revisited. But after the couple’s statement and the woman’s allegation of gang rape, the FIR was revised based on the seriousness of the offence. The FIR was based on the statement by Vinay Kyasanur, an employee at the lodge.
The police have arrested four accused — Aftab Makabul Ahmed Chandankatti, 24, Mohammad Isak Mandakki, 23, Abdul Khadar Jaffar Hanchinmani, 28, who is an auto driver and is said to have helped the accused reach the location and later flee from the place. Mohammad Saif Savikeri, the fourth accused, is said to be recovering from a fracture after his two-wheeler met with an accident.
IN CHIKKAMAGALURU: ASSAULTED FOR GIVING CHOCOLATES
Less than 24 hours after the incident, 200 km away in Chikkamagaluru, on January 10, another case of moral policing was reported where a group of men attacked boys from a different community for allegedly giving chocolates to college students at a bus stand in Mudigere town.
In this incident, a group of four attacked two youths for allegedly talking to a Hindu girl. The assaulters, police say, were locals and claimed that the girls were being harassed, and so they stepped in to rescue them. Three persons have been arrested. The investigation continues based on the CCTV camera footage and eyewitness reports.
IN BELAGAVI: COUSINS BELONGING TO DIFFERENT FAITHS ATTACKED
On January 6, another case of moral policing was reported at Market Police Station in Belagavi. A group of 17 miscreants allegedly assaulted two cousins belonging to different faiths. The cousins, residents of Yamnapur, told the police they had come to the city to register their names for the Congress Yuva Nidhi scheme. As there was a server issue, they were unable to register and found a bench to sit near the Fort Lake premises. This is when a group of young men attacked them, asking them why they were together. They were locked in a room and assaulted for nearly four hours, they alleged. It was when worried parents of the cousins informed the police station that they had not reached home that the incident came to light.
According to the statement of the youngsters, the gang attacking them kept asking them why people from two different communities were sitting together. “We told them that we were cousins and that she was my aunt’s daughter. They refused to believe and continued to beat us up till 6.30 pm. They took away our mobiles, cash and belongings.”
The BJP in Karnataka has raised an alarm over these incidents and called it a breakdown of the law and order machinery in the state.
Karnataka’s senior BJP leader CT Ravi alleged: “Law and order do not exist in the state, and CM Siddaramaiah is only bothered about general elections. There is no fear of law, and the government is completely ignoring such incidents.”
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