Watch: Did goons force a couple to 'marry' in Hyderabad on Valentine’s Day?

A video that is doing the rounds shows a group of men standing around a clearly uncomfortable couple, as the man ties a ‘mangalsutra’ around the woman’s neck.

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A man can be seen tying something around a woman’s neck, possibly a mangalsutra, in visuals allegedly taken on Valentine’s Day in Hyderabad. This entire scene is being shot on a phone on the selfie mode, with a man’s face seen in the frame the whole time, while he declares that it’s a good day. The camera pans, and we see multiple men with green and saffron scarves standing around, egging on the couple.

This couple is said to have ‘tied the knot’ under duress on Valentine’s Day, and in the video, the man thanks them, calling them brother and sister, and even makes them take a picture with a bunch of men — all while the couple clearly looks uncomfortable. This event is said to have taken place at the Kandlakoya Oxygen Park near Medchal Highway, which falls under the Cyberabad Commissionerate in Hyderabad.

This, even as the Hyderabad police said that they had beefed up security on Valentine’s Day, and would ensure that the people taking law and order into their own hands would be not be tolerated.

So far, no case has been registered against the men who forced them to get married, nor has anyone involved been identified.

“No case can be registered proactively by the police. The couple or their family have to come forward to file a formal complaint only then we can take action in this issue,” said A Srinivasa Rao, the Assistant Commissioner of Police.

Earlier in the day, 60 Bajrang Dal members were taken into preventive custody after they held a rally in Hyderabad’s LB Nagar area without permission and attempted to burn an effigy of St Valentine.

Violence was also witnessed in other parts of the state. In Miryalaguda in Nalgonda district, members of the Bajrang Dal and others could be seen vandalising the decorations of Hotel Sitara Grand, stomping on balloons while raising slogans. The group of men held orange flags, and raised slogans of Bharat Mata ki Jai and of ‘Valentine’s Day Boycott’, and have reportedly been detained.

The Bajrang Dal had earlier said that there were against the commercialisation of love by private companies for profit making.