Undivided Dakshina Kannada in news for wrong reasons

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ENARADA NEWS AND WEBCAST

ENARADA, Mangalore, September 25, 2013:

By C D Souza 

People of undivided Dakshina Kannada are known to be intelligent, resourceful and enterprising and wherever they have gone they have left an indelible mark in their chosen field.

But the developments and incidents of the last few years in undivided Dakshina Kannada have besmirched the image beyond redemption.  Even now both the districts are communally sensitive and with the moral police becoming active there is always a fear looming large.

The issues relating to disappearance of cattle and cattle transportation have always been the cause of minor skirmishes in many places of coastal towns  for many years.  The moral police did enough damage to the reputation of Mangalore through their uncouth acts and remarks.  The infamous incidents of pub attack and home stay attack brought more shame to Mangalore and Udupi defaming our reputation beyond the frontiers of our state and the country.

Acts of ignominy
Add to the existing acts of ignominy is the gang rape case of a medical girl in Manipal three months ago.  The incident involving the student of a prestigious medical college sent shock waves across the two districts forcing police to launch a massive man hunt.   The culprits involved in the gang rape were caught and the trial is going on.  And now just three months after the horrendous crime another equally atrocious incident of sexual harassment of a 4 year old girl in Udupi, has once again rankled the people of these two districts.  People cannot even imagine that such incidents could happen in South Kanara.   Unfortunately, it is true and we cannot say in future that we are completely immune from such acts of cruelty and atrocity.

A girl aged about 4 (3 years and 10 months) was alleged sexually assaulted by three to four bus employees hired  by the school to ferry children to and from school. The girl was studying in nursery in Madhavakripa School in  Udupi and was using the school bus to go home  and the accused abused the girl sexually.  The police have arrested the two accused while two more managed to escape.   The incident has evoked strong protest from the parents of the students of the school and also from the general public who condemned monstrous act.  Parents are now seeking stringent security steps by the school to protect their children from the preying eyes of perverted men who don’t spare even young children below five years to satisfy their libido.

Shockingly, it is now believed that the two connected to the sexual assault of the child have managed to escape due to the political clout enjoyed by them.  It is said that one of the two who escaped happen to be a political party worker and soon after he was questioned by the police a local political leader intervened and got him released. This political clout also said to have desisted the police from filing case against him.  This has angered the people all the more who rallied behind the parents protesting against the incident through a massive rally in Udupi.

Self-styled moral police spread havoc  
If one believed that moral policing in undivided Dakshina Kannada district would take a backseat after the Congress bounced back to power a few months ago, they are mistaken.  In a daring act,  the other day some self-styled moral police barged into a call centre office Orbis Business Management located in Kuloor and attacked the employees working in the call centre.  The group attacked the employees saying that girls should not work in night shifts.  A complaint was registered and the accused were caught but released on bail.  There have been many other incidents where self-styled moral police have tried to demonstrate that cannot be cowed down by change of government in the state.

Another contentious issue that often creates tension in these coastal towns is the issue of cattle theft and illegal cattle transportation.  There have been many instances where the vehicles transporting cattle to the slaughter house were stopped by people and the people involved were assaulted. In August this year a tense situation prevailed in Gurupura Kaikamba, in the outskirts of Mangalore following a heated exchange between two groups after the vehicle transporting cattle was stopped by rightwing activists.

There have been many complaints of cattle theft in undivided Dakshina Kannada district and there is a general feeling that the police are turning a blind eye to the complaints.

All these developments indicated that undivided Dakshina Kannada is like a bubble which can burst any time at the slightest provocation.  There is distrust, hatred, suspicion and a bathetic emotionalism which can act as a potential trouble shooter plunging the coastal districts into communal turmoil.

All these issues need to be dealt with an iron hand with the support and cooperation of the people and the law enforcing agencies.  Unless stringent punishment is given to the offenders and a lesson is taught to the political patrons of such anti-social elements, undivided Dakshina Kannada will shot to fame for all the wrong reasons.

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