Cousins Allegedly Assaulted in Karnataka After Mob Assumes They Are an Interfaith Couple
The Wire Staff
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New Delhi: Two cousins, who belong to different faiths, were allegedly assaulted for nearly three hours on Saturday (January 6) afternoon by a mob which decided they were an interfaith couple. The incident took place in Karnataka's Belgavi town, where the two had come to apply for the state government's new unemployment compensation scheme, Yuva Nidhi, The Times of India reported.
The 24-year-old man and 21-year-old woman were injured in the attack and have been admitted to the BIMS Hospital.
Nine of the 17 accused – including two minors – are now in police custody, The Times of India reported. According to The Indian Express, seven people have been arrested on charges of kidnapping and assault.
The woman and man's mothers are sisters, according to the newspaper, and have married into different faiths.
“The victim girl is a graduate and she visited her college to collect some documents. She was told to wait till 3.30 pm. Meanwhile, her cousin joined her and both were waiting at the Lake Park. As the girl was covering her face with a hijab and the boy was sporting a tilak, the accused thought that they were lovers and attacked them,” a police officer told The Indian Express.
The mob took the two to an isolated location and repeatedly assaulted them. “I repeatedly told them that Rahul (name changed) is my cousin but none listened to me. They snatched our mobile phones. They took him to another room and assaulted him. They also hit me asking why I was roaming around with a Hindu boy being a Muslim girl,” the woman has told the media.
The assault ended three hours later only because the man somehow managed to dial the police number. “We have booked the accused under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 149 (unlawful assembly), 394 (robbery), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), and 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code,” a police officer told The Indian Express.
The accused, according to The Indian Express, have been identified as Mohammad Ayman, 27, Hussain, 22, Ateef, 22, Saif Ali, 27, Umar, 18, Rehan, 19, and Azan, 18.
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