Rumours on social media make Honnavar tense again

Alleged molestation of girl leads to flurry of exaggerated social media messages

December 14, 2017 11:09 pm | Updated 11:09 pm IST - Honnavar/Hubballi

 Tense:  Honnavar town wears a deserted look after shops were closed on Thursday.

Tense: Honnavar town wears a deserted look after shops were closed on Thursday.

The port city of Honnavar, which was slowly returning to normality after the death of a fisherman youth polarised communities, turned tense again on Thursday after an incident of a girl being molested set off rumours blaming one community.

The class IX girl, who was on her way to school on Thursday morning from Magodu village, 40 km from Honnavar town, was allegedly attacked by two men. The girl, who escaped from the clutches of the men, told the police that the two put a cloth over her face and threatened to stab with a knife if she screamed. However, when a bike passed by, the men panicked as the girl screamed for help. As the girl ran, she suffered minor knife injuries on her arms. She ran for over 2 km and reported the incident to her parents.

However, in a town sharply divided on communal lines, this incident set the rumour mills abuzz with WhatsApp and Facebook posts, alleging the girl was stabbed by members of the other community. Rumours even claimed murder. The rumours refused to die down though doctors of the Honnavar Government Hospital, where she was treated, told media persons that she had suffered only minor injuries.

Sensing trouble, the Honnavar police imposed prohibitory orders in the town and made public announcements that nobody should spread rumours on social media. However, the damage was already done. Most shops downed shutters and the town wore a deserted look with buses and autorickshaws going off the roads. Buses restarted service by Thursday evening.

Superintendent of Police Vinayak Patil told The Hindu that the incident was being investigated. Mr. Patil said he would be able to comment on whether the incident was related to communal tension only after investigation.

Meanwhile, Honnavar, Kumta, and Sirsi, which witnessed violent protests and vandalism, returned to normality, but a huge posse of police continue to monitor the trouble-hit areas. Mr. Patil said no other untoward incident had been reported in the last 24 hours, and they were keeping a strict vigil in the coastal district. Four more people were arrested in connection with rioting in Sirsi on Tuesday.

Prohibitory orders in Sagar

Sagar town, where prohibitory orders were enforced in the wake of the protest planned by Hindutva organisations to condemn the alleged killing of Paresh Mesta, remained peaceful on Thursday.

The activists of BJP and Sangh Parivar called off the plan to take out a protest march in the light of prohibitory orders from 6 p.m. Wednesday till Thursday midnight. Instead, they took part in special prayer meetings at Veeranjaneya temple and Sathyanarayana temple in the city in the memory of Mesta.

The city wore a deserted look on Thursday as shops and commercial establishments remained closed and autorickshaws remained off the road till afternoon. However, educational institutions, government offices and banks functioned as normal.

More than 800 police personnel, including 10 platoons of Karnataka State Reserve Police and District Armed Reserve Police, were deployed here.

Jail bharo from December 19: Hegde

A day after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah blamed the BJP and right-wing outfits for the violence in Uttara Kannada district, Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Anantkumar Hegde termed the violence as “State-sponsored terrorism”. He said the party would launch Statewide ‘jail bharo’ in protest from December 19.

Mr. Hegde alleged that by registering attempt-to-murder cases against the protesters, the State government had indulged in terrorism. He said the people of the district were angry over the death of an innocent teenager and accused the police of instigating the protesters. He claimed it was the police who had pelted stones.

Mr. Hegde also took exception to conducting the post-mortem of deceased Paresh Mesta at a private hospital.

National parties trying to replicate Muzaffarnagar riots: HDK

Likening the communal tension in Uttara Kannada district to Muzaffarnagar riots in Uttar Pradesh prior to the 2013 Assembly polls, JD(S) State president H.D. Kumaraswamy on Thursday accused the two national parties, Congress and BJP, of replicating the Muzaffarnagar “experiment” ahead of the Assembly polls in Karnataka.

Both parties had tried to exploit the Muzaffarnagar riots to woo majority and minority communities and a similar thing is happening in Uttara Kannada, he said.

Accusing the anchor of a news channel of demanding money from his party leader for “promoting” him, he said the anchor was trying to “tarnish” his image by releasing video clips of his “off-the-record” remarks. Mr. Kumaraswamy said he has decided to take legal recourse.

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