Thorough investigation sought into moral policing incident

Members of Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and other like-minded organisations on Tuesday staged a protest against a moral policing incident in which a youth was thrashed for being with a girl at Attavar on Monday.

The DYFI State president Muneer Katipalla demanded police department to withdraw the First Information Report (FIR), filed by the girl who was with the youth, Shakeer, when “Hindu activists” assaulted him. “The girl must have filed an FIR under pressure,” he said and demanded arrest of all those people who had thrashed Shakeer.

Katipalla claimed that the Belur-based girl, under pressure, had called a press meet on Tuesday evening and alleged that Shakeer use to harass her.

As the video of the inhuman incident went viral across the country through social media, police have arrested 13 persons. There is a need for thorough investigation into the incident, he added.

The incident has happened just seven km away from Police Commissioner’s office. Though the miscreants stripped the victim in public and assaulted him, police could not reach on time, he said.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has promised that he would never let any other moral police incident occur in the district. “Monday’s incident is like a direct attack on the chief minister. We don’t have many expectations from local leaders. They are not bothered about such incidents once they get elected. In fact, the moral policing incidents have increased in the recent years,” he said.

DYFI City president B K Imtiyaz, District Secretary Santhosh Kumar, Corporator Dayananda Shetty were present among others.

MLA visits youth

MLA J R Lobo on Tuesday visited Shakeer, who was assaulted by miscreants.He said that he would direct the police to initiate action against those who had assaulted him after tying to an electricity pole.

“Such untoward incidents are a black mark on a developed city like Mangaluru. An attempt to disturb peace in the society should be condemned at any cost. Strict legal action will be taken against those who were responsible for the incident.”