A group of men suspected to be Sri Rama Sene members assaulted a Christian man, allegedly for ‘luring a Hindu woman’ in Hubballi on June 19. The man is recovering in the intensive care unit of a hospital.
Twenty-one-year-old Sharvin Satish Jogul was assaulted for around four hours on June 19, when he and his girlfriend were about to have lunch at a restaurant. His mother, Florina Satish Jogul, filed a complaint with the Hubballi Rural police station.
According to the FIR, Sharvin had been dating Disha for the past two years. On June 19, when the pair were waiting for their orders at the Rasta 63 restaurant around 3.30 pm, a group of four to five men and one woman came up to them and questioned them.
“They asked him for his Aadhaar card. My son refused. Then they asked to speak to him outside for a few minutes. They took him near the gate of the restaurant, snatched his phone and beat him,” Florina said.
She said in the FIR that the assault then continued in a shed near the Siddharoodha Math. “They confined him and beat him till 7 pm. Around 10 to 12 people attacked him. Then some of them left and others took their place. In all, 25 to 30 people beat him for hours, all over his body. They kicked him and attacked him with weapons. His face had shoe marks,” Florina told TNM.
She alleged that two minors, a 16-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy, were also among the attackers. Sharvin is currently in the ICU of Karnataka Medical College and Research Institute in Hubballi.
According to the FIR, one of the attackers, Sunil Challala, told Sharvin that he had “ruined Disha’s honour” and that he had to “compensate by giving Rs 5 lakh”. Sunil said that if Florina did not give him the money, they would kill him. “If we see him in Hubballi, we won’t let him live; we’ll burn your son,” Florina quoted Sunil in the FIR
An FIR was registered on June 20 invoking BNS sections pertaining to attempt to murder, assault with weapons, wrongful confinement and kidnapping.
Dharwad SP Gunjan Arya reportedly visited Sharvin in the hospital along with other officers.
Sri Rama Sene founder Pramod Muthalik also led a protest outside the Hubballi Rural police station on Saturday, June 20, after the police arrested two of its workers along with others in connection with the assault.
Gunjan Arya told TNM that five people had been arrested in connection with the case and that they were on the lookout for more accused. On whether the attackers belonged to the Sri Rama Sene, he said the police were still investigating that angle.