Karnataka   

Where self-appointed groups crack down on ‘moral code violations’

MANGALORE: Self-appointed vigilante groups are cracking down on those “violating the moral code” in Dakshina Kannada district.

Records with the district police that The Hindu had access to show that since the third week of July, there have been 10 instances of these groups punishing individuals whom they perceived as having violated the moral code.

Hindutva organisations such as the Bajrang Dal, a Christian organisation, Social Action Committee, as well as certain individuals who were formerly with the Karnataka Forum for Dignity (KFD), have been involved in these incidents.

In most of the incidents, the groups have targeted young men and women from different communities who were interacting with each other. In one case, a young woman was attacked because she went to the house of a young woman from a different community. The Bajrang Dal has claimed responsibility for seven of these incidents.

The district head of the organisation, Sudarshan Moodabidri, claimed that the outfit had “solved” over 200 cases in the last two months where Hindus were “caught” committing the “immoral” act of interacting with members of other communities.

Mr. Moodabidri said, “Sometimes it becomes necessary to use force. Fear of such action should deter such misadventures. Girls reform themselves once they are thrashed and humiliated in public, but boys are tougher to control.”

The Social Action Committee carried out a “joint operation” with Bajrang Dal activists in the city in one instance. “We will carry out more such strikes,” its president, Deepak D’Mello, told The Hindu. Former activists of the KFD have been linked to two such cases.

The organisation’s president, Abdul Aziz, said that the acts were committed by delinquent members and distanced KFD from the issue. He confirmed that the organisation was against inter-community relationships but was averse to using force.

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