In a shocking case of assault and invasion of privacy, six men barged into the room of a lodge in Karnataka and thrashed a couple for the ‘crime’ of being together despite practising different faiths. Videos of the assault have emerged just days after two cousins were beaten up in the state after being mistaken for an interfaith couple.

Filmed by the attackers themselves – indicating that they wanted to make a name for themselves – the videos show the six men waiting outside the room of the lodge in Hanagal Taluk of Haveri District. After recording the room number, they knock on the door and wait. When the door is opened by a man, they barge in and head straight to the woman, who tries to cover her face with a burqa. 

Muttering expletives, the men hit the woman so hard that she falls to the floor. The man is also assaulted and then caught by two or three of the attackers when he tries to run out of the room. One of the attackers corners the woman near the bed while another hits her and drags her to the floor again.

Another video, which appears to be shot outside the lodge after the attack, shows the woman desperately attempting to cover her face but the men lift her hijab and film her. 

The couple filed a complaint at the Hanagal police station and two out of the six men, who are from the minority community, have been arrested.

“The attack took place on January 7 at Nalhara Cross in Hanagal. The six accused, who are from the minority community, have been charged with attempt to murder, kidnapping and outraging the modesty of a woman. Two of the six have been arrested and we are trying to locate the other four,” a police officer said.

In the other incident on Tuesday, seven men were arrested for beating up two cousins in Belagavi after mistaking them for an interfaith couple. Police had said the men, who were also from the minority community, continued to beat up the boy and the girl even after they said they were cousins.

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Amid outrage over the movie ‘Annapoorani’, a case has been registered against actor Nayanthara, the film’s director and producers, and Netflix India’s content head Monika Shergill. The First Information Report, filed by a right-wing outfit in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur, alleges that the accused hurt religious sentiments of Hindus, disrespected Lord Ram and promoted ‘Love Jihad’ through the movie. 

The FIR was filed at the Omti police station by fringe outfit Hindu Sewa Parishad and names seven accused, including Nayanthara, director Nilesh Krishnaa, producers Jatin Sethi and R Ravindran, and Netflix India’s content hear Monika Shergill.

The movie, which released in theatres on December 1, began streaming on Netflix on December 29. After a backlash and several police complaints, it has now been pulled from the OTT platform.