Thane: Two couples attacked by villagers during visit to shrine, say police

Representational Image

Two young couples were allegedly beaten up by a group of villagers during their visit to Haji Malang shrine, where authorities have banned entry of tourists, here in Thane district of Maharashtra, police said on Wednesday.

While the victims claimed they were attacked by villagers because they were wearing shorts and undertaking the trip to the hill top shrine despite a ban, the police said they were looking into their complaint. A manhunt has been launched for the villagers who beat up the couples who had gone to Haji Malang near Kalyan on Sunday evening, the police said.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Ambernath Division) VS Narale told reporters that based on the complaint of the victims, the police have registered a case under IPC sections related to molestation, assault and threat against the villagers who numbered six to seven. Narale said the couples had gone to Haji Malang for sightseeing when the villagers stopped and attacked them. The victims approached the police who asked them to get medical examination done at the hospital and come back with report to complete the formalities for complaint registration, he said.

However, they did not come back to the Hill Line police station, the officer said. The police on their own called up the victims and got the complaint registered on Tuesday, he claimed. He said two police teams have been dispatched in search of the accused villagers. "We are also examining the CCTV footage of the spot," Narale said.

On the other hand, one of them victims, a woman, claimed the villagers were annoyed as they were wearing shorts. "At the time of assaulting us, they shouted ''shorts were not allowed and this was not the time to loiter around''. Some of the villagers even tried to pull the shorts of the women in the group," she said. "We pleaded for mercy, but they did not listen... they attacked us and molested the women," she alleged.

A senior officer at the Hill Line police station said movement of people within 1km of picnic spots in Thane district has been banned by the collector in view of drowning incidents and also due to the coronavirus pandemic. "Hence, the villagers would have prevented the victims from moving around. But we will definitely check why the couples were beaten up," he said.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever