Panel wants police to take suo moto cases in 'moral policing' incidents

Mangaluru: The Legislative Committee on Women and Child Safety in Dakshina Kannada (DK) district has decided to recommend to the government to give directions to police to take suo motu cases in increasing incidents of ‘moral policing’ in the district. A meeting of the committee held here yesterday took the decision with a view to sending a strong message to the people against resorting to such practices, committee chairman V S Ugrappa said in a release here.  Certain sections in DK district were of late taking the law into their hands upon seeing boys and girls together in a group, which was an undesirable trend, he said. Police should not allow the culprits to go scot-free saying that victims had not filed a complaint as it would lead to more such incidents, he said. The committee would also request the government to amend the Goondas Act to incorporate a provision for booking the accused in moral policing incidents under the Act. DK Superintendent of Police S D Sharappa and city police commissioner M Chandra Sekhar, who attended the meeting, said such culprits could be held under the Act even without an amendment. The release claimed that incidents of moral policing had come down with police booking a few culprits under the Act. PTI