A Muslim was stripped and beaten badly by a group of Hindu men for talking to a Hindu girl in the southern Indian town of Mangaluru, stoking communal tensions. At least 13 people have been arrested for the incident. A youth identified as Shakeer, he is manager of an accessories store was stripped, tied to a pole and flogged at a crowded market place allegedly for moving with a Hindu woman in the communally polarised at Babugudde near Attavar town of Mangalore. It is believed that Shakeer was humiliated and beaten up mercilessly for being in the company of and talking to a Hindu girl.

Shakeer is the manager of an local accessories store in Mangalore and the woman works in the same store as a salesgirl. he is currently being treated in hospital but authorities confirmed he is out of danger. Some reports allege Shakeer attempted to molest the girl, who the police commissioner said has filed a complaint.

After the incident, Shakeer Report to the officials:

But local police officials who spoke to the Shakeer was merely talking to the girl, who works in the same grocery store as him, outside a cash machine. While seeing the pair transacting a purported loan, a group of about 20 men rushed towards them and started thrashing Shakeer. He was stripped to his underwear, tied to a pole and flogged for nearly an hour. This incident took place at about 5.30 pm local time on 24 August. Police arrested the suspects at midnight. Images shot by some of the suspects have been widely picked up by multiple local media outlets.

The man told the police that they were attacked by Bajrang Dal activists while they were on their way to an ATM, According to the man’s complaint to police, the woman had asked him for a loan of Rs. 2,000. They were on their way to an ATM so that he could withdraw cash when a gang of men armed with knives and staves accosted them, the man said. The woman escaped without much harm but she too was slapped for trying to come to her colleague’s defense.