After attack by Marathi-speaking men, Belagavi bus conductor booked under POCSO Act

BELAGAVI: A day after a bus conductor was assaulted for asking some passengers to speak in Kannada, the Marihal police have booked him under the POCSO Act. They have also arrested three people for the attack and sent them to judicial custody.

On Friday, bus conductor Mahadevappa Hukkeri asked a youth and a girl, who are siblings and were travelling on the bus plying between Belagavi and Sulebhavi, to purchase tickets. The duo, speaking in Marathi, replied that they don’t know Kannada.

The arrested have been sent to Hindalga jail.

All of a sudden, the conductor was thrashed and kicked, leaving him badly injured. After a video of the attack was shared widely on social media, the police arrested Maruti a.k.a Tumari Dattu Chandagarkar (33), Rahul Raju Naidu (28) and Balu Suresh Gonjekar (28). The trio was produced before a magistrate and sent to the Hindalga jail.

Meanwhile, the Marihal police received a complaint from the aunt of the minor girl who was in the bus, alleging that the conductor had attempted to misbehave with her. The girl had, in fact, called the arrested trio to attack the conductor.

On Saturday, Kannada activists staged a protest in front of the Marihal police station after a POCSO case was registered against the bus conductor.

Based on her complaint the police filed a case under the POCSO Act against Mahadevappa Hukkeri and taken up further investigation. Meanwhile, protests were held in Belagavi condemning the attack on the conductor and bus services to and from Maharashtra have also been suspended.

Police Commissioner Iada Martin Marbaniang said four people have been arrested and teams have been formed to nab the others too. He said that prima facie, the attack seemed to be over a language dispute.

The police commissioner said a counter-complaint was also received based on which a case has been filed against the conductor. “The investigation will bring out the truth. We will speak to other people who were travelling on the bus at the time of the incident”, he added.