VELLORE: Seven people, including a juvenile, who allegedly harassed Muslim women and videographed the act while they were visiting the historic Vellore Fort earlier this week were arrested by the Vellore North Police on Thursday.
The arrested accused are Irfan Basha (23) of Kaniyambadi, Ibrahim Basha (24) of Karukamputhur, Santhosh (22) of Mangai Mandy, Prasanth (20) of Konavattam, Ashram Basha (20) of Aajipura, Mohammed Fayaz (22) of Konavattam, and the juvenile.
The last video of the incident was uploaded on social media on March 27, which showed a Muslim woman with a male friend. The accused questioned the man why he had brought along a Muslim woman. They had allegedly asked the woman to remove the burqa claiming she could not wear a burqa and hang out with a man and called the burqa sacred. They filmed the incident without the duo’s permission and later uploaded the video on social media. Similarly, they had targeted a few other Muslim women.
The Vellore (North) Village Administrative Officer (VAO) had complained, following which police took action. During a press meeting on Thursday, SP S Rajesh Kannan told reporters that the motive behind the incident is not known and is being looked into.
“Police patrolling inside Vellore Fort will be tightened and made permanent,” said Rajesh Kannan and warned of severe actions against those who share the video online. Mobile phones of the accused have been seized and sent for forensic investigation. Later in the day, police produced six of the seven accused at the Vellore court. They were remanded in judicial custody for 15 days, while the juvenile was produced before the district magistrate of the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB). Further investigation is on.