Muslim man travelling with Hindu woman stabbed: Cops

BENGALURU: A 23-year-old Muslim man was beaten up and stabbed by a group of men, believed to be right-wing activists, for travelling with a Hindu woman in a bus in coastal Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district on Thursday, police said on Friday.

The victim, identified as Anwar Mohammed by police, has been admitted to the intensive care unit at a private hospital in Mangaluru. His condition is said to be serious.

Thursday’s incident comes at a time several states in the country, including Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, have introduced laws regulating inter-faith marriages, deemed by right-wing activists as “love jihad”.

According to police, the man and the woman (23), who knew each other from school, were travelling in an overnight bus from Mangaluru to Bengaluru when the group of men stopped the bus and attacked the man. It wasn’t immediately clear how the group knew that the two were on the bus.

The woman, whose identity was not released by the police, also suffered minor injuries.

“Around 9pm, they stopped the bus near Pumpwell Circle in Mangaluru. They initially questioned [the man and the woman] why they were travelling together and later stabbed the man with a sharp object,” said Mangaluru police commissioner Shashi Kumar.

The officer added that Mohammad was accompanying the woman as she had applied for a job in Bengaluru and hadn’t been to the city before.

An FIR has been registered for attempt to murder (IPC section 307) among other sections at the

Kankanady police station in Mangaluru. No arrests have been made so far.

Since the attack on Thursday, a WhatsApp message doing the rounds claimed Bajrang Dal activists stopped the duo from travelling. “Ongoing Operation by Bajrang Dal Today (Thursday). A Hindu young woman who was fleeing with a Muslim man was travelling from Mangaluru to Bengaluru. Bajrang Dal activists stopped the couple near Pumpwell,” read a message.

HT couldn’t independently verify the WhatsApp message.

Sharan Pumpwell, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) divisional secretary, too claimed on Friday that the group’s men intercepted the couple because it was a case of “love jihad”, but that a mob gathered and turned violent. “We were trying to save the girl from love jihad. But a mob gathered and turned violent. Police are investigating the case,” he added.

Police said that they are investigating the VHP leader’s claim and the authenticity of the message.

VHP LEADER SAYS GROUP’S MEN INTERCEPTED THE COUPLE BECAUSE IT WAS A CASE OF ‘LOVE JIHAD’ BUT ADDED THAT THEY DID NOT ATTACK THE MAN