DEHRADUN: A group of 20 local youth, who said they will go all out to “keep the reputation of the holy town of Piran Kaliyar in Haridwar district intact and prevent any illicit relationship in the area”, dragged a young couple from a guest house, thrashed and publicly humiliated them.

The shocking case of vigilantism, which actually happened on Sunday, had gone unreported as the couple were too scared to press charges. However, after a video of the incident went viral, the matter came to light, forcing the police to take action and book the 20 under various charges.

There are about 50 to 60 guest houses in the Piran Kaliyar area, which some local resident allege are being used to promote “illicit relationships by offering rooms to unwed couples”.

The video of the incident shows the mob pulling the couple out of a guest house and after abusing the two start thrashing them. When the woman protests, they set upon her, too, pulling her by the hair and beating her up. In the 5.05-minute clip, the terrified couple can be seen repeatedly pleading to the men to let them go.

Taking a serious note of the incident, Haridwar police, under whose jurisdiction Piran Kaliyar falls, has registered a case against the 20-odd men for disrupting the law and order situation. When contacted, SSP Haridwar Sweety Agarwal told TOI, “No one has the right to take law in their hands. As no one came to us with the complaint, we have registered an FIR against the unidentified persons on the basis of the video.”

Agarwal maintained that the police team had no information about the couple shown in the video. “We have started a probe into the matter and soon all the facts related to it will come to the fore,” she added.

This is the second video clipping in just the last few days of mobs harassing unsuspecting couples in Uttarakhand that has gone viral. On September 16, a video showing people misbehaving with a couple in Kunda area of Udham Singh Nagar had triggered an uproar.

