Belagavi police arrested three persons on the charge of assaulting a Muslim woman and Hindu man who were travelling together in an autorickshaw. The arrested persons are auto driver Dawood Khateeb and his friends Mohammad Ayub and Yusuf Pathan.
The alleged incident occurred on October 8. The arrests were made on October 19.
The couple, who are from different villages, had got into the auto of Dawood Khateeb after arriving in Belagavi bus stand. They had got into the auto of Dawood and him to take them to a park. Instead, Dawood drove to Aman Nagar and called his friends. The trio allegedly thrashed the couple while reprimanding them for moving around with each other. The woman was told not to move around with non-Muslims. The trio also accused her of engaging in commercial sex work.
The accused threatened to tie the hands and legs of the couple, cut their heads and dump them on the railway track `just as in the case of Arbaz Mulla of Khanapur’.
Dawood had decided to teach the couple a lesson after noticing the burqa of the woman and vermilion on the man’s forehead, a police officer said.
Police say the accused had also snatched ATM cards, a mobile phone and ₹50,000 in cash from the couple. These materials have been recovered from the accused, police said.
