Ghaziabad: Couples harassed at Indirapuram park ahead of Valentine’s Day

Several videos shared on social media showed a group of men armed with long sticks accosting couples in the park.

A group of men belonging to a Hindu right wing group, wielding sticks, went around Swarn Jayanti Park in Indirapuram on Wednesday, allegedly harassing couples ahead of the Valentine’s Day on Friday. Videos of their alleged “moral policing” was widely shared on social media on Thursday evening, with senior officers of Ghaziabad police saying that they are aware of the videos but they cannot act in the absence of a complaint in this regard.

A video grab of the alleged incident. Vipin Gurjar Hindu, national president, Hindu Jagriti Manch, said the men in the videos taken from Swarn Jayanti Park in Indirapuram were from his organisation. (HT Photo)

Several videos shared on social media showed a group of men armed with long sticks accosting couples in the park and demanding to see their identification cards and also querying about their relationship status. They could also be purportedly heard threatening to call up the couples’ parents and family and asking them not to hang out together again.

While some couples preferred to quietly leave, a few complied with the demands and could be seen fishing out their ID cards. Some more videos emerged in which the group was seen chanting “Jai Shri Ram” and giving video bytes to media persons.

HT has seen these videos but could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos.

Later, Vipin Gurjar Hindu, national president, Hindu Jagriti Manch, said the men in the videos taken from Swarn Jayanti Park in Indirapuram were from his organisation.

“If you see, our sisters and mothers visit the park for morning walks, and they often find couples sitting there. Many of them indulge in “indecent behaviour”, and such acts endanger our religion and culture. Valentine’s Day, on Friday, is not part of our culture. February 14 happens to be the day of the terror attack in Pulwama (2019), and the group members asked the couples to light diyas and remember the martyred soldiers,” Gurjar said.

“Our team went to the park to make the youngsters understand and to protect them from the influence of (western) culture. There was absolutely no violence, and we spoke to them in a peaceful and cordial manner. We figured in these videos, and many media persons from channels were also present there. We have also conveyed the issue to the police. After these videos were widely shared, I have been getting calls from police as well as the local intelligence unit, seeking information about our agenda for Valentine’s Day,” he said.

When contacted, police from Indirapuram circle, said they were cognizant of what transpired at the park.

“As soon as the incident at the park came to our knowledge Wednesday, we immediately sent our team there. No one complained to us \and our team found that there was no incident of any violence. However, we will deploy additional personnel on Valentine’s Day to prevent such moral policing,” said Abhishek Srivastava, assistant commissioner of police, Indirapuram.