The arrest of 14 homosexuals invoking Section 377, involved an organised community of roughly over 800 members, out of which only 15 were publicly known as homosexual. Out of the 14 arrested, Dr Palaksha has been admitted to a hospital in the city, on complaining of health problems after the arrest.A few people suspected of involvement with the arrests by the police have gone underground, in the fear of arrest, after a 19-year-old engineering student had complained to police that the group was forcing homosexual experiments on him, due to which he contracted HIV. A friend of the student, Suresh (name changed), said: “They used him like a sex worker. He was made to go to different members almost every day for the last two years. My friend was though habitually not a homosexual, but in need of money, was driven into the group initially. But then, the gay community here took him into their circles.”

The 14 have been arrested under section 377, 270 and 114 of the IPC. A few activists fighting for the rights of transgenders and other sexual minorities in Bangalore have started making inquiries with the local social groups about the arrest. Activists say that homosexuals are also a sexual minorities and should be treated on the lines of transgenders (Mangalamukhis), as they have special social needs. “The act of homosexuality conforms with the provisions of these sections. Homosexuals do not come under sexual minorities, in that case what police in Hassan did was perfectly in tune with the law of the land,” SP Chengappa’s advocate said.