A policeman can be seen leading two girls out of a gate. One young girl is covering her face while the other looks nervous. Two men are seen following them, taunting them continuously. The policeman leads the girls towards a car and just when one of the girls approaches the door, one of the men hit her on the neck.
The video showing this scene was taken outside the Manasa water park in Pilikula on Tuesday, where men belonging to Hindu Jagrana Vedike are clearly seen assaulting a girl in broad daylight, in front of the police.
The two men had taken objection to a group of students belonging to different religious communities who had come to enjoy a picnic at the water park.
The students attacked are from Pompei PU College in Aikala. In the group, there were students belonging to three different religious communities - Hindus, Muslims and Christians.
The students were visiting the water park, a popular picnic spot 7 kms away from Mangaluru. The sight of the students from different religious communities co-existing irked members of Hindu Jagrana Vedike who were also at the water park. They attacked them inside the park, following which police intervened.
The incident, though less violent, brings back memories of the infamous Mangaluru pub attack by Shri Ram Sene activists in 2009.
Police officials at Kavoor police station confirmed that three people had been arrested in connection with the incident. "We got information from the public and immediately rushed to the water park and the people who questioned and harassed the students have been arrested including the man who hit the girl from behind her. All four are from the Hindu Jagrana Vedike," said KR Nayak, inspector at Kavoor Police Station near Mangaluru.
Cases of moral policing are frequent in Dakshina Kannada with police dealing with two major cases in the last week alone.
On December 31, an aspiring actor called out police officials for harassing her and her friend, a Muslim youth, at Subramanya police station in the district because they belonged to different communities.
Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police conducted an inquiry into the matter and initiated action against the policemen guilty of harassing the actor and her friend.
Meanwhile in another incident, Muslim youths took on a group of teenagers including two girls from different communities for interacting in public on December 25.