A fanatical right wing group notorious for creating communal tensions and indulging in moral policing Sri Ram Sena assaulting women guests at a bar in Mangalore.
India has been shamed again. Goons of a right wing Hindu outfit Sri Ram Sena in Mangalore barged into a pub and beat up women.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has reacted to the incident in Mangalore saying those responsible will be taken to task. He said that the police has been given full authority to take appropriate measures.
The women's only fault was that they were found in the pub. Members of the Sri Ram Sena, who carried out the attack, justified their shameful actions.
Victim of the attack by the Ram Sena workers said, "The whole thing was traumatising. No one came for our help."
"We were just having a good time and next you know people pulling your hair, hitting you and calling you names like prostitutes," said the victim.
"The last thing we want is to be spoken to like this and especially by hooligans who don't know what they are doing in the name of god," she said.
More than 15 people have been arrested for the vicious attack as outrage over the incident spreads across the country.
The miscreants have been sent to judicial custody till January 27 and have not been allowed bail. The miscreants have been charged with criminal assault, intimidation, outrage of modesty and criminal trespass.
About 40 men were involved in the attack. Among the arrested are the district secretary and the joint convenor of the Sri Ram Sena.
A special team has been set up to arrest those responsible for the attack. The incident took place over the weekend after the men, completely unrepentant, say they received complaints suggesting the women were dancing 'obscenely' in the pub and they decided to act.
The hooligans chased the girls out, attacked men who tried to protect them, there are also reports that the girls were molested.
"So far we have arrested some people and we are further investigating the situation, we will take strong action," said A M Prasad, Inspector General, West Mangalore.
Karnataka Home Minister VC Acharya said action was being taken against the perpetrators.
This is sadly not an isolated incident of groups taking the law into their own hands, churches and prayer halls around Mangalore were attacked just a few months ago over alleged conversions.
In Bangalore, rave parties on the outskirts of the city were raided not by police but by members of the Kannada Rakshana Vedike.
A state that once had a strong image of peace and tolerance seems to be heading in a very different direction now.
