Police arrest 2 villagers, detain 3 minors for assaulting couples in Thane

Police on Thursday arrested two villagers and detained three juveniles for allegedly assaulting two young couples during their visit to Haji Malang shrine in Thane district of Maharashtra, an official said.

The couples were allegedly beaten up by a group of villagers during their visit to the hill top shrine in Kalyan on Sunday.

The victims, in their complaint, have claimed they were attacked by villagers because they were wearing shorts and undertaking the trip to the shrine despite a ban by the district administration.

Four days after the incident, the Hill Line Police arrested two villagers and also detained three juveniles (age not disclosed), the official said.

A criminal case under relevant sections of the IPC related to molestation, assault and threat was registered against around half-a-dozen persons on Tuesday.

One of the victims, a woman, told the police the villagers were annoyed as they were wearing shorts. The police on Wednesday had said they were probing this claim.

Movement of people within 1km of picnic spots in Thane district has been banned by the collector in view of drowning incidents during the monsoons and also due to the coronavirus pandemic.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)