Just beyond Shimla, a single-lane stretch of the Kalka-Shimla National Highway (NH-5) cuts through the congested main bazaar of an old suburban town known for its scenic beauty.
Traffic crawls past small shops — bakeries to confectioners, those selling utensils and jewellery — that line either side.
Inside a small street is a tailoring shop run by a member of the minority community.
On June 6, members of a Hindutva organisation stormed into this shop and caught hold of the tailor and his colleague, aged 21 and 22. The mob was accompanied by a young girl, also from the minority community, who had allegedly been sexually harassed by a cousin of the men.
The two men were dragged out from the shop, roughed up, and paraded through the market till the local police station.
Cross FIRs were lodged. The 22-year-old alleged harasser was arrested, and so were seven people, including two women, who allegedly assaulted his relatives.
The incident has since snowballed into a sensitive case, putting the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh, which came to power in 2022, in a difficult position as it attempts to tread a cautious line in handling such communal flare-ups.
This is not the first time the government has faced such a situation. On September 11, 2024, the town witnessed communal tension when a crowd, including local residents and right-wing organisations, demanded the demolition of a mosque, which was ‘illegally’ extended from one floor to five floors. Police resorted to lathi charge to prevent the mob from reaching the mosque. Following the incident, the mosque committee offered to demolish the unauthorised portions of the structure themselves.
In the current case, videos showing the two men being dragged through the market amid anti-religious sloganeering went viral on social media, heightening concerns over communal polarisation.
The latest case
According to police, the girl filed a written complaint on June 5, alleging the accused made a video and allegedly blackmailed her.
Police registered a case and initiated an investigation. The victim’s statement was subsequently recorded before a magistrate and police added sections of the POCSO Act to the case.
The complaint regarding the parading incident was filed by the tailor. He alleged that a group arrived with the minor girl and asked if she knew him. She said she did not recognise them but the group still assaulted him and his colleague, the complaint claimed.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.
