HYDERABAD: Workers of Bajrang Dal, which is affiliated to the RSS, and former members of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) separately held demonstrations and sit ins across the city in protest of Valentine’s Day. A man and a woman, both distantly related, were in for a shock after they unwittingly strolled into a park and were promptly “married off” by the former BSP men.

The “wedding” of the unlucky duo was caught on camera at Kandlakoya Oxygen Park in Medchal district. The video shows the visibly shocked persons being circled by the mob chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’. The man is then forcefully made to tie a mangalsutra around the woman’s neck. A mobster can be heard saying it is a ‘manchi roju’ (an auspicious day) to get married. The two were finally made to pose for a photo.
The former BSP workers Mulangiri Srihari Chary, Kunchala Anand, Kanuganti Avinash, Pitla Ashok, Baria Suresh, and T Chandra Shekar — were later booked under IPC Sections 342, 354, and 506.

“Earlier, it was the only the Bajrang Dal that indulged in such moral policing. Now other groups too have become a nuisance. The parents of the girl approached us and lodged a complaint stating that the group in question behaved inappropriately and forced the two to get married,” said PV Padmaja, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Balanagar.  

The incident took place despite police being deployed at parks, multiplexes and other public spaces to keep fringe groups at bay.Express visited three parks in the city — Krishnakanth Park, Jalgam Vengal Rao Park and Kanjerla Lakshmi Narayana Park. Constables had been deployed at all three.Some parks were even closed to the public to avoid untoward incidents from taking place.

“Yes, this is preventive policing. The State will get a bad name if any untoward incident takes place,” said M Raghavendra, SI of SR Nagar Traffic Police, in reply to a question on why Krishnakanth Park was closed and to what extend preventive policing could be helpful.

Bajrang Dal workers “counselled” at least 150 couples on Valentine’s Day. “We have ensured that at least 150 couples will henceforth not celebrate the day,” said Bajrang Dal State convenor Subash Chander.  
Several malls, jewellery shops, pubs and restaurants were asked to remove all sorts of decorations marking Valentine’s Day. Joy Alukkas was one of the jewellery shop that had to refrain from cashing in on the day after threats from the Bajrang Dal.