In yet another incident of moral policing in Kerala, four men have been arrested by the police for attacking youngsters who visited Melparamba in Kasargod. The incident took place when a group of youngsters were waiting in their car in Melparamba, after celebrating the birthday of one of them. At that moment, a group of men descended on the scene, interrogating them and eventually attacking them too.

According to reports, one person in the group, who turned 18 years old, had invited his friends over for some fun at the Bekal Fort. The elder brother of the birthday boy came over to take them back.

While returning, they thought of having their dinner at Melparamba. However, as it was raining, they had to stay back inside the car. Then a group of men arrived there and started harassing them. A wordy duel ensued and a girl in the group was allegedly manhandled by one of the men. They went on to slam the car doors shut, virtually holding them hostage.

But alerted to the developments, the Melparamba police arrived at the spot quickly and took all of them to the police station, where they let the youngsters go with their parents.

Based on their complaint, a First Information Report (FIR) has been filed by the Melparamba police under sections 143 (punishment), 147 (punishment for rioting), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 294(b) (obscene acts and songs), 506(1) (punishment for criminal intimidation) read with 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), and four persons have been arrested. According to an OnManorama report, the arrested are identified as Abdul Manzoor TA (41), Abdul Khader Afeeq K (37), Mohammed Nizar (38), and Arif BK (32).