MALAPPURAM: CPM Edavanna local secretary M Jafer, along with four others - Abdul Kareem, Muhammad Ali, Abdul Gafoor, and Jaseel, all residents of Edavanna - was arrested on Sunday in connection with a moral policing incident.
The arrests were made after they assaulted students at the Edavanna Bus Stand. The police have filed charges against them under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Kerala Police Act, including causing hurt, insulting modesty, acting in concert, and invading privacy.
According to Muhammad Shimshad K, a Class XII student, the attack occurred when he and his sister were sitting at the bus stand. Abdul Kareem took their videos despite their protests, accusing them of inappropriate behaviour.
Shimshad added that when they tried to file a complaint at the police station, a group of people, from the panchayat office, arrived and assaulted them. He demanded strict punishment for those who harassed his sister.
Shimshad also mentioned that a group called Janakeeya Kootaima had put up a flex board threatening students in the area, but another group responded with a counter-flex board, asserting students’ rights.
Following the arrests, the police removed both flex boards from the bus stand area. Jafer, the CPM local secretary, denied allegations of moral policing and claimed that they intervened to protect Abdul Kareem, who was creating sand art that the students allegedly destroyed. Jafer stated that he was arrested for a minor scuffle with the students, not for engaging in moral policing.