The police have arrested four more persons in connection with Saturday’s attack on Morning Mist Homestay at Padil even as students of some degree colleges boycotted classes in the city on Monday protesting against the attack.
H.S. Venkatesh Prasanna, Police Inspector, District Crime Intelligence Bureau, gave the names of four arrested as Shailesh (23), Chetan (25), Sunil (24) and Harish (25). All of them were from different parts of the city. They were arrested on the basis of information provided by eight persons arrested earlier relating to the incident, he said.
With this 12 persons have been arrested in connection with the attack.
Dakshina Kannada District Working Journalists’ Association has condemned police filing a case against two journalists who had visited the ‘homestay’ to cover the attacks on Saturday. The office-bearers of the union met Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh and submitted a memorandum urging him to withdraw the case.
President of the association P.B. Harish Rai said in the memorandum that journalists would intensify the agitation if the case was not withdrawn.
Boycott classes
Students of St. Aloysius College, St. Agnes College, Shri Dharmasthala Manjunatheswara College of Business Management, Sahyadri College of Engineering, Besant College for Women and Badriya First Grade College on Monday boycotted classes in protest against the attack on young men and women at a ‘homestay’ in Padil on the outskirts of Mangalore on July 28.
Students of Canara College and Gokarnanatheswara College boycotted some classes.
Some of attack victims visited St. Agnes College during a protest meeting on its premises on Monday. Gurudutt, a victim, said: “There is no mistake on our part. Women should have freedom to walk around with respect.”
At the protest held at St. Aloysius College, one student said she had worn pink clothes because one of the girls who had been attacked had worn pink. She said she wanted to let that girl know that she was with her. “I don’t know her, I have never met her but I want to let her know that I am with her”, she said. Another student said that she was terrified about going out to have fun.
Activists of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), Communist Party of India (Marxists) staged a protest in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner here on Monday condemning the attack. As prohibitory orders were in place, police arrested and released them later.
Jyothi A., president of the State unit of the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), condemned the attack. She wanted to know why Hindutva groups did not protest when a woman was pushed out of a train in Mandya district recently. She questioned why Hindutva groups did not raise their voice against Swami Nityananda and rave party allegedly organised at St. Mary’s island near Malpe some time ago.