Row over religion: Two arrested for moral policing, thrashing biker in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: In an incident of moral policing in Bengaluru, two youngsters stopped a biker, who was dropping home his woman colleague from another religion, and assaulted him while abusing the woman.

Acting swiftly after the video of the incident went viral on social media, the Suddaguntepalya police arrested both the accused within 12 hours.

The incident took place near Dairy Circle on the busy Hosur Road on Friday night around 9 pm.

In the video, the miscreants are seen asking the biker why he was dropping a woman belonging to another religion and assaulted him before warning him of dire consequences if he is seen with the woman again. 

CM warns of action against moral policing

They hurl filthy abuses at both of them and confront the woman, questioning her why she was going on the bike with a man belonging to another community.

“Aren’t you ashamed to go with a man who is is not from your faith? Don’t you know what’s happening around the world? You people won’t listen though we request on social media. People like you spoil the name of our religion,” the miscreant is heard saying in the video, while the woman keeps asking him what wrong had she done.

After forcing her to give her husband’s phone number, one of the miscreants speaks to him and abuses him for allowing his wife to go with “others”.

Later, they ask the woman to get down from the bike and take an autorickshaw home.

The police, who took the case seriously, launched a manhunt and arrested both the miscreants within 12 hours from Kumaraswamy Layout.

As Police Commissioner Kamal Pant announced the swift arrest, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai tweeted, “My government deals with such incidents with an iron hand”.

Sources said the victims are colleagues at a private bank and there was an official event on Friday evening. As it was late, the woman went with her colleague, who lives close to her house.

“They had stopped the vehicle at a traffic signal. The miscreants, who too had pulled up next to them, noticed the man speaking to the woman in Kannada. The miscreants followed them for about a kilometre till Dairy Circle, where they waylaid and confronted them,” an official said, adding that the backgrounds of the two accused persons are being checked.

The police have booked the accused under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.), 341 (wrongful restraint), 354 (outraging modesty of women) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.