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On May 30,2022, the Aryancode Police of Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram registered a case against 200 women from Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s women’s wing, Durga Vahini for marching with weapons including swords in Keezharoor in Kerala last week. No arrests have been made so far.
“We have registered a case against 200 persons, but not named anyone. The case was registered with regard to disturbing public tranquillity, under Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 144 (joining unlawful assembly with weapon), 147 (rioting), 149 (if an offence be committed by any member of an unlawful assembly, every other member of such assembly shall be guilty of the offence) and 153 (provoking with intent to cause riot) of the Indian Penal Code. Besides, they were also booked under Section 25 of the Arms Act,” a police officer told The Indian Express.
The police sources have reportedly claimed that they registered the case suo-moto even though the hardline Muslim outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) and few other organisations had complained against the rally taken out by VHP women’s wing. According to the Indian Express, the PFI alleged that the march was organised as part of an arms training programme in the village near Neyyattinkara.
Recently, the Kerala police had registered a case pursuant to viral video showing a rally held by PFI as part of its ‘Save the Republic’ campaign, where a minor raised hate slogans allegedly targeted at non-Muslims at Alappuzha. Last week 20 people were reportedly arrested whereas on Saturday, the police arrested the boy’s father. The police have reportedly faced a lot of backlash for taking action against the minor boy’s family.
The Indian Express quoted the boy’s father assaying, “Nobody taught my son to raise such slogans. He had taken part in many agitations, including protests against CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act), in the past. He might have heard the slogans in such agitations and learnt them by heart. Those (slogans) were against RSS. What is wrong in raising slogans against RSS?”
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