Mangalore:
In what appears to be a repeat of the infamous Mangalore pub attack episode, a Kannada channel today aired footage that showed young women being beaten up by a group of men inside a resort in the city.
The incident occurred this evening, reportedly at the Morning Mist resort which located on the outskirts of Mangalore. The video showed the men barging into the rooms of the resort, pushing around and slapping the women.
The attackers, reportedly owing allegiance to a Hindu right-wing group, claimed that certain immoral activities were happening inside the resort which prompted them to act against the women. (
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The police, who were alerted about the incident by the resort authorities, have arrested the assailants.
Meanwhile, Home Minister R Ashok has condemned the attack on the women.
The incident is a grim reminder of the violent moral policing that unfolded at a pub in Mangalore in 2009 when defenceless young women were mercilessly beaten up by activists of the Sri Ram Sene. The group had then justified the assault by accusing the victims of denouncing traditional Indian values.
Today's attack has also brought under scanner the role of the channel whose crew filmed the assault on the women. It brings back similar questions that were asked during the recent case of molestation of a young girl in Guwahati by a mob - the entire incident was shot by the reporter of a local channel in the city. On being asked as to why he did not try to help the victim, the reporter of the channel, NewsLive, defended himself saying that when it became evident to him that he could not fight the mob, he called another colleague and cameraperson to record the incident so the cops would have some evidence against the attackers.