Moral Policing: Couple beaten up by mob for hugging each other

In an act of moral policing, a couple was allegedly harassed and beaten up by a mob for hugging each other in a Kolkata metro train on Monday night, Bengali daily Anandabazar Patrika (ABP) reported quoting an eye-witness.

According to the ABP report, the young couple, who were hugging each other “publicly” in a metro train during their travel, was teased and assaulted by few of their co-passengers after the train reached Dum Dum station at around 10:05 pm. The moral policing mob also attacked the couple brutally.

Several people react to the moral policing act by the mob; 

A young couple embraced in Kolkata metro. It made a bunch of frustrated old losers angry. They beat them up. Scenes of hatred are allowed. Scenes of love are considered obscene. pic.twitter.com/Jv4zNaMDe8

— taslima nasreen (@taslimanasreen) May 1, 2018

Shame on you #Kolkata .Shame on u #kolkatametro .Now some illiterate people will decide how to stand,sit,talk in metro. So https://t.co/DnVzF4uoRb protest against this nonsense.#protest #HumanRights #changemind pic.twitter.com/97V1r6FdbT

— Suman Sen?? (@iamsumansen) May 1, 2018

Ujjwal Chakraborty, a senior sub-editor with the ABP, witnessed the entire episode of moral policing and reported to his newspaper.

“While returning home from my office, I boarded a Dumdum bound metro from Chandni Chowk metro station at around 9:45 pm. like other days. I noticed that few passengers were teasing and threatening a couple for allegedly hugging each other on the train,” describing the incident, Ujjwal Chakraborty said.

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“After the train reached Dumdum metro station, the mob suddenly attacked and beaten up the couple badly inside the metro station. I tried to save them from the attacking crowd, but could not,” Chakraborty added. The newsman said that attackers were largely middle-aged and senior men.

“Later few women and young passengers intervened in the matter, saved the couple from the beating mob and took them out of the metro station safely,” Chakraborty said. Kolkata Metro Rail, however, has not issued any official statement on the incident yet. 

“No such complaint has been registered yet. We have gone through a news report in a Bengali daily that a couple was beaten up by co-passengers at Dumdum metro station for hugging each other in the train,” a senior official of Kolkata metro told IBNS. “We are looking into the matter,” he added.