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Won’t tolerate moral policing, says Karnataka home minister
The statements come after at least four instances of moral policing and communal hatred surfaced in the border district of Belagavi, about 500 kms from Bengaluru.
Karnataka’s home minister Araga Jnanendra on Tuesday said that instances of moral policing and other communal violence in the state will not be tolerated even as the number of such crimes appear to be on the rise in the southern state.
“Such incidents will not be tolerated,” Jnanendra said, adding that such matters will be investigated without any consideration for the perpetrators’ religious identity.
“When the police take stricter action, a message will go to such people,” he added.
The statements come after at least dozen instances of moral policing and communal hatred surfaced in the border district of Belagavi, about 500 kms from Bengaluru.
In one incident, a boy was assaulted by a group of Muslim men for talking to a girl from their community in a bus stop. The accused were seen assaulting the boy and pulling the veil off the girl and demanding to know her name and address.
In another incident, which happened on October 8, a group of villagers teared down board of a chicken shop for keeping it open despite a Hindu festival being celebrated in the nearby temple.
A third incident, that happened on October 14, was of an auto driver who took an inter-faith couple to a remote location, called his associates and assaulted the boy for being with a Muslim girl. In this incident, the assaulters even robbed the couple of their valuables.
The police in the district have said that they will register a complaint if the victims come and register a complaint.
A person aware of the developments said that the police have tried to strike a compromise between the assaulters and the victims, leading to delays in filing of cases that was further emboldening other groups to resort to such crimes.
The incidents of moral policing comes barely a month after the brutal killing of 24-year-old Arbaaz Aftab in Belagavi district on September 28. Arbaaz was found on the railway track as his head and leg were severed and laid on the track between Khanapur and Desur line. According to the police, the parents of the girl who was supposedly in a relationship with Arbaaz had given a contract to a local Hindu fringe group, Sri Rama Sene Hindustan, to murder the boy.
The police have arrested 10 people in the case based on the complaint by the mother of Arbaaz, who first suspected the role of the girl’s parents.
