‘Moral policing’ had raised a storm of protest in the country in the past week. Employees of Technopark would know, since they have to frequently tackle self-appointed vigilante groups in Kazhakuttam. Several incidents, big and small, have occurred in this area in the past few months.
In an incident which happened recently, one such group beat up an employee for the “crime of dropping a female colleague at her hostel.” “She missed her cab and since it was too late in the night to catch an autorickshaw, she requested me to drop her. A group of men on motorbikes began chasing us near the hostel. She went in and one of them started questioning me in English. When they realised that I am from Kerala, they began to abuse and beat me,” says the employee on condition of anonymity.
But what shocked him more was the response of the police. “I had lodged a complaint with the attacker’s motorbike number. They were also summoned along with us and they even admitted to the police that they beat me. The police, after questioning him, turned against me and asked me why I had dropped her. They said the police should have been informed if she had missed her cab. I complained to the SP office and now, there is huge pressure from the attackers to withdraw the complaint,” he says.
