Karnataka’s Mangaluru city witnessed another incident of moral policing when two men verbally abused a journalist and his female friend on July 26. The victims, journalist Abhijith N Kolpe and his friend were leaving a restaurant when they were subjected to a hateful tirade as two men objected to a ‘Muslim’ man and Hindu woman sitting together.
Recalling the harrowing episode, Abhijith N Kolpe narrated how he and his female friend were confronted by two unidentified men who suspected him to be a Muslim and expressed disapproval of him being with a Hindu girl. Speaking to TNM, Abhijith said, “One of them asked what religion I belonged to. When I said I was a Hindu, he didn’t believe me.” They continued to abuse Abhijith asking why being a Beary Muslim, he was with a Hindu girl. (Beary is a Muslim community in Karnataka who speak predominantly in the Beary language. They mainly reside in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts.) Despite Abhijith's efforts to clarify his identity as a journalist and a Hindu, the attackers remained unmoved and continued their verbal assault on his friend. "I repeatedly told them that I was a Hindu, even showed them my identity card, but they barely paid heed to what I was saying,” Abhijith said.
The situation escalated as the men continued to verbally abuse the woman even after they had left the restaurant. "They stopped her and kept asking why she was roaming with a Muslim man. Even though it was none of their business, my friend had to clarify that I wasn’t a Muslim," Abhijith added. In an attempt to put an end to the harassment, his friend confronted the attackers, urging them to stop their intrusive behavior and find productive pursuits.
Distressed by the incident, Abhijith filed a formal complaint at Kavoor police station. The police on Monday, July 30 arrested the two men identified as Chetan Kumar and Naveen in connection with the case. They were charged und,er Sections 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). However, the suspects were later released on bail.
This incident comes just two days after another case of moral policing in the Dakshina Kannada district, where two men were arrested for assaulting a police constable and verbally abusing his wife. The men allegedly questioned the constable for "walking with a Hindu woman around 10 pm," assuming him to be a Muslim, despite his attempts to clarify that they were both Hindus.
Mangaluru is the first police commissionerate in Karnataka to establish an anti-communal wing to handle cases related to communal violence and to combat moral policing.