In another case of moral policing in Mangaluru, members of the Hindutva group Bajrang Dal reportedly attacked two Muslim men who were part of an interfaith group late at night in the city on Saturday, December 10. The accused allegedly assaulted two Muslim men as they were moving in the Kottara area along with two Hindu women, who were looking for an eatery. According to the police, one of the women in the interfaith group is a minor.
Police officials said members of the Hindutva group questioned the interfaith quartet for moving around in the city late at night on December 10. They claimed that this was a case of 'love jihad'. 'Love jihad' is a bogey term used by right-wing organisations to propagate the theory that Muslim men ‘trap’ and marry Hindu women with malafide intentions.The union government had earlier told the Lok Sabha in 2019 that no “case of ‘love jihad’ had been reported by any of the central agencies”.
As per Mangaluru police, the incident had taken place in the limits of Urwa police station in the city, however, no complaint was lodged with the police and no arrests have been made in the case yet.
The incident comes less than a week after a case of moral policing in a jewellery shop in Mangaluru led to the arrest of four members of the Bajrang Dal. This incident took place in the Kadri police station limits on December 6 and police arrested Shibin (36), Ganesh (35), Prakash (34) and Chethan (39) in connection with the case. According to police, the accused had barged into a jewellery shop on December 6 and assaulted a Muslim man as he was seen with a Hindu woman. They claimed that the man was in a relationship with a Hindu co-worker and that this was a case of 'love jihad’.
As per Mangaluru police, the incident had taken place in the limits of Kadri police station in Mangaluru city. It is alleged that the group had dragged the man around and beaten him in the presence of police personnel who rushed to the spot following the incident.
A complaint was registered in this regard by the man who was attacked. Kadri police, which had registered the case and took up the investigation, then arrested four accused persons.