‘Kidnapped, thrashed for talking to Hindu girl’: Karnataka student’s police complaint

An 18-year-old boy from a minority community was allegedly kidnapped and beaten by a group of nine people in Yadgir, Karnataka, for “being friends” with his Hindu classmate, the police said on Wednesday (March 20).

The victim, Waheed, reportedly said in his complaint to the police that he and the girl were studying together at a private college and were in regular contact with each other. Some of her relatives, he said, did not like this.

He alleged that he was kidnapped from near his college on Tuesday (March 19) and was confined in a room for five hours where he was assaulted. They even threatened him with a knife and said they would kill him, he reportedly said in his complaint.

Police registers case

The police have reportedly registered a case against nine men, all residents of Yadgir, based on his complaint. Waheed alleged that three of his assailants were relatives of the girl.

Media reports quoted the police as saying that they have registered a case under IPC sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon), 307 (attempt to murder), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 363 (punishment for kidnapping), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation).

This is not the first incident of moral policing that has occurred in Karnataka in the recent past.