On Thursday night, a group of men assaulted a 23-year-old man who was traveling on a bus from Mangaluru to Bengaluru with a companion, who is said to be from a different community, in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district. According to the police, the man and woman, who are friends and former classmates, boarded an overnight bus in Mangaluru bound for Bengaluru.
However, about 9:30 p.m., they were halted at Pumpwell Circle in the city by a group of men who raised suspicions about the interfaith pair moving together. The man was stabbed with a sharp knife during the commotion and is reportedly in the ICU of a private hospital in Mangaluru. Members of the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad were among those who seized the duo. A representative of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad reported to TNM that their representatives had stopped the pair and that violence had ensued.
Aswid Anwar Mohammed, a 23-year-old man from Baikampady in Mangaluru, was named as the suspect. The Kankanady Police Station in the city has reported a first information report (FIR) in the case and is questioning 15 people for trying to kill the young man on the bus. In the meantime, no arrests have been made in the investigation.
“The woman told us that she had known the man for many years because they had been classmates. She said that she was traveling to Bengaluru for a job in digital marketing and that the man was accompanying her to assist her because he had previously visited Bengaluru,” Mangaluru Police Commissioner Shashi Kumar told reporters on Thursday.
According to the police, the woman was also wounded in the attack. “We’re trying to figure out how this group of people got details about the passengers. They were on their way to Bengaluru in an overnight sleeper coach. The men became upset because they came from various backgrounds and made claims of ‘love jihad,’ according to a top investigative police officer.
With the BJP’s revived drive for legislation against “Love Jihad” – the right-wing conspiracy theory of Muslim men seducing Hindu women in order to convert them – an increasing number of cases of religious bigotry have been registered.
Last month, Union Home Minister Amit Shah entered the Assam campaign, pledging legislation against “Love and Land Jihad.” Such laws have also been enforced in states like BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, which forbid inter-religious marriages by requiring requirements such as a judge’s permission in advance.
