Muslim man travelling with Hindu woman assaulted: Cops

The police said that while there are reports that members of the Bajrang Dal attacked the Muslim youth, the right-wing organisation has however, denied its involvement in the incident so far

Bengaluru

The couple were travelling in a bus from Karkala, when three to four unknown men stopped the bus, dragged the Muslim youth out of the vehicle and thrashed him, police said. (HT Archives)

In an alleged case of moral policing, a group of men assaulted a Muslim man, who was travelling with a Hindu woman in Mangaluru on Thursday, police said.

The incident occurred on Thursday night near Nanthoor circle in Mangaluru. The couple were travelling in a bus from Karkala, when three to four unknown men stopped the bus, dragged the Muslim youth out of the vehicle and thrashed him, police said.

The Muslim youth has been identified as Seyad Raseem Ummar (20), a third year BE (Information Science) student at Nitte Institute of Technology, Nitte, Karkala. The identity of the woman is not known.

An FIR has been registered at the Kadri police station. “On Thursday, Seyad was returning from Karkala in a private bus at 4pm. Near Nanthoor junction, three to four unknown people entered the bus, abused him verbally and thrashed him. They also threatened him if he told anyone about the incident. The miscreants then dragged him out of the bus and beat him up with sticks,” the FIR read.

The police said that while there are reports that members of the Bajrang Dal attacked the Muslim youth, the right-wing organisation has however, denied its involvement in the incident so far.

“They also asked for his ID card. We are trying to identify the accused by examining the CCTV footage,” the police said.

“We are not sure if those who attacked him are members of the Bajrang Dal. When we asked them about the incident, Bajrang Dal said they have not done anything,” the police added.

Moral policing by right-wing groups is on the rise in Dakshina Kannada district. In September this year, an incident of moral policing was reported in Dakshina Kannada’s Sullia Taluk in which a Muslim boy was beaten up and was issued death threats by his college mates for befriending a Hindu girl.

In April this year, another incident of moral policing had taken place in Dakshina Kannada’s Kadaba Taluk. Then, a group had assaulted a Muslim auto driver accompanied by a woman. Police said he was attacked after the group learnt that the woman was a Hindu and the driver was a Muslim.

A year ago in November, a 20-year-old Muslim student was dropping off a female friend at Surathkal from their college in Mukka late at night, when two men followed them and created ruckus. They asked for the youth’s ID and beat him up. The woman was also abused.