A young couple was assaulted in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata on Monday night, allegedly for standing “too close” to each other while travelling on a metro train.
According to reports in the Indian media, the assault occurred at the Dum Dum Metro station in Kolkata. A photo of the incident shows the woman shielding the man with her body as a group of men try to hit him.
A local journalist travelling on the same train told News 18 the passengers were irked by the couple’s public display of affection.
He said a group of elderly men travelling on the train reacted angrily to the couple’s “objectionable” way of standing.
“One of them said ‘why don’t you go to Park Street for all this as there are lots of pubs’. Others said such acts should be done inside a bedroom and not in a public place,” the journalist was quoted as saying, although he said he couldn’t see what exactly the couple did that enraged the passengers on the train.
A passenger who witnessed the incident told a Bengali newspaper that the couple was beaten up by half a dozen men.
"When the train entered Dum Dum, the 5-6 middle-aged men dragged the couple to the platform and thrashed the boy black and blue. When the girl tried to save him, she was beaten up, too, by the irate men."
The man and woman were let off after a few people on the platform came to their rescue.
Kolkata Metro Railways said the couple did not file a complaint but the incident was being investigated.
A spokesperson said they had examined CCTV vision at the station but said couldn’t find any evidence of the alleged assault.
In a tweet Metro Railways said it was against “moral policing”.
The state Women’s Commission Chairperson, Leena Ganguly, has reportedly asked the female victim to come forward."The accused might believe that hugging in public space might be against Indian culture and they could have protested. But, they have no right to take law into their own hands. I request the victim woman to approach us so that we can take the case forward," Ms Ganguly told The New Indian Express.
The incident led to protests by activists in Kolkata who demanded the arrest of the men responsible for assaulting the couple.
Incidents of right-wing groups disrupting Valentine's Day celebrations as well as vigilante groups assaulting young men and women seen together are not uncommon in some parts of India.
