A boy and a girl were allegedly attacked and assaulted in Karnataka’s Belgavi on Saturday by some goons who assumed the duo to be in an inter-faith relationship, but they turned out to be brother and sister.
The 23-year-old man Sachin Lamani and 22-year-old woman Muskan Patel were sitting on the Fort Lake tank bed when a group of 17 people approached them and attacked them as they suspected them to be inter-faith lovers, reported The Hindu.
Sachin belonged to the Lambani community, while Muskan was a Muslim. Police have arrested eight out of 17 miscreants who brutally thrashed the duo —who went to register for Siddaramaiah’s Yuva Nidhi scheme — with pipes and rods.
After being pummeled, family members of the victims filed a complaint with the police while searching for them. The police traced their location through a triangulation tool and rescued them.
“They questioned why a Muslim and a Hindu were seated next to each other. I told them she was the daughter of my aunt, not a Muslim. Our two phones were stolen by them. They seized seven thousand rupees,” said Lamani as quoted by India Today.
Lamani further said that he and Patel went to register for Siddaramaiah’s Yuva Nidhi scheme. They were asked to come after an hour as it was lunchtime. “The miscreants were drunk when they approached and attacked us. They took a rod and thrashed us,” said Sachin.
The group before attacking the duo enquired about their names and after learning that both belong to different religions, they started questioning Sachin about sitting next to Muskan, stated the complaint.
The verbal assault developed into physical violence, with the attackers attempting to choke Sachin around his neck. The group forcibly grabbed the duo’s mobile phones, according to a police complaint, adding they took both of them in separate rooms where Sachin was brutally thrashed till Saturday evening.
Subsequently, more people joined the attackers who assaulted the duo, reported India Today, adding that Patel was also thrashed ruthlessly during the incident. They are receiving treatment at a district hospital.
DCP Rohan Jagadish informed reporters in Belagavi that police are scanning CCTV footage and more clues would apprehend the other accused persons. He also informed that two of the individuals arrested were minors.
BJP leader and former DCM K. S. Eshwarappa visited the district hospital and has demanded justice for the duo.
“It is very unfortunate that Muslim goondas had attacked the two innocent youth who were brother and sister and the police are taking it easy,” quoted The Hindu as saying Eshwarappa.
He continued that, no minister or politician has come to meet them nor offered any moral support, adding that the state government should prove its secular credentials by arresting all the “Muslim goondas” who are accused of this offence.
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