The school-going daughter of a Kerala MLA and her male co-passenger, who happened to be a Muslim, were yanked out of the bus they travelling in for the crime of talking to each other.
The police said a group of men intercepted the bus on the outskirts of Mangalore and forced Shruti, a Class IX student and daughter of C.H. Kunhamhu, CPM MLA from Mancheshwaram, out, along with her co passenger, Shabeeb.
Shruti and Shabeeb, the elder brother of one of Shruti’s classmates, were travelling from Kasargod to Mangalore. They were interrogated about their relationship for over 20 minutes before being released.
On January 25, members of the Sri Rama Sene, a radical Hindu organisation, had stormed a pub in the same city, beating up some of the women inside.
{{/usCountry}}On January 25, members of the Sri Rama Sene, a radical Hindu organisation, had stormed a pub in the same city, beating up some of the women inside.
{{/usCountry}}“It is the Sri Rama Sene which is responsible for this incident as well,” Kunhambu told HT.
While the police said they were trying to track down the men responsible, Sene chief Pramod Muthalik denied his activists were involved. “I have checked. No one from the Sene was in the group of attackers,” he said. The Bajrang Dal too denied any role.