In an act of apparent moral policing, a group of men led by Edavanna grama panchayat president T. Abhilash attacked a brother and sister at Edavanna bus stand on Thursday. The incident led to a face-off between the students of Government Model Higher Secondary School and the local people.
The police were accused of refusing to register a case against Mr. Abhilash and his companions when the victims of moral policing, Shibila and Shimsad, complained. The police said on Sunday that cases were registered on the basis of complaints from both sides.
Video shot on phone
Shibila, a final year undergraduate student of Cooperative College, Wandoor, and her younger brother Shimsad, a higher secondary student of Government Model Higher Secondary School, Edavanna, were waiting for a bus at Edavanna when Abdul Kareem, a local sculptor, shot a video of them on his mobile phone.
A dispute erupted when Mr. Kareem refused to delete the video. Soon it led to a clash with Mr. Abhilash and friends supporting Mr. Kareem. Shibila said her brother was beaten up by the “moral policing gang” and she was verbally abused and threatened.
On social media
As the police refused to register a case against Mr. Abhilash and others, Shibila and Shimsad took to social media with their bitter experience. Local people under the banner of the Edavanna People’s Collective put up a board warning the students against loitering on the bus stand premises after 5 p.m.
The people’s collective warned the students that they would be ‘handled’ and handed over to parents if they were seen after 5 p.m. at the bus-stand. The students retorted by erecting a board saying that none would be allowed to do the moral policing act. However, the police removed both the boards and registered a case. They said they were investigating.
