Mangalore: Home stay attack - A year passes by, but painful memories still linger
Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Mangalore, Jul 28: “Hakodchi anna birthday enna” (don’t hit me it is my birthday) – It is one year (July 28) since this dialogue became familiar to Mangaloreans and all over the country following the savage attack on a group of friends partying in “Morning Mist” home stay. Mangaloreans were shell-shocked to witness the scene of the savage attack on Vijay Kumar on their television sets repeatedly when he was celebrating his birthday on July 28, 2013 with a group of 12 of his friends consisting of boys and girls. Vijay and his group were taken aback by the sudden onslaught by the hooligans and he had to tell his attackers who thrashed him black and blue in chaste Tulu that it was his birthday celebration and they should not hit him.
But the goondas who attacked this group in the name of moral policing had other ideas. They attacked the boys and girls brutally, beat them up, molested the girls, sexually harassed them, looted their valuables and ransacked the home stay with vengeance. All this was captured in the camera by two TV journalists who were among the 44 accused for their complicity in the incident. It was their video on the TV that gave the general public a glimpse of the violence unleashed on youth on that fateful day, especially the brutal attack on unsuspecting girls.
A year has passed since the unsavory incident which further besmirched the cosmopolitan character of Mangalore. After the infamous pub attack of 2009 it was the attack on Morning Mist that made the entire nation sit up and take notice of the dreadful events unfolded in Mangalore. But more than that one even shudders to think the trauma and agony faced by the victims who were first hounded by the goons and then had to face the unwanted publicity when television sets showed clippings of the attack without camouflaging their faces.
Friends in need...
Now when Vijay is getting ready to celebrate yet another birthday today, July 28th, the events of the past one year are slowly unfolding in his mind like a movie slide. Though there were many victims, it is only Vijay Kumar and his friend Gurudatt Kamath, another victim, who came out in the open and file a complaint against their attackers braving the public humiliation that came with it. Both Vijay and Gurudatt are saddened by the refusal of other victim friends of theirs to come forward and file a complaint. Rather they chose to hide their identity from the media glare fearing for their reputation.
So is Vijay going to celebrate his birthday in style this year too? “I had organized the party to my friends and these friends refused to stand by me when we needed their support and cooperation. So this year I am going to party but with my friends who stood by me in my hour of tribulation in my own home”, says Vijay Kumar who faced the major assault from the attackers. Vijay says that some NGOs helped him in his fight for justice but a few who promised all help ditched him half way through.
Gurudatt Kamath, another victim of the attack also pointed out that past is past and Vijay and he are going ahead with their day to day lives as they have suffered enough. On further probing he revealed that he was disheartened by the volte-face of their friends. “We had decided to come out in the open facing all sorts of mortification because we believe that this should not happen to others. We did not want other boys and girls to go through what we faced. We tried our best but we cannot force others to fall in line”, he says.
Both Vijay and Gurudatt faced lot of problems ever since they went public when they filed the complaint against their attackers. There both faced lots of threats and humiliation from varied sources for filing the case. They were both event organizers and the business also was greatly affected because going out attracted public attention. “We did not have anyone except each other when we faced this acid test”, Guru points out.
Mental trauma
More than the physical assault, the victims especially Vijay and Guru had to go through a lot of mental trauma which often reached a precipice due to the public humiliation that followed. They often had to face nasty taunts from their detractors who did not lose an opportunity to pass lewd comments against them or publicly humiliate them. They were stalked, their every movement was tracked and even the social media was used to launch personal attacks on them.
Vijay Kumar who was working as DJ in all wedding-related functions and other social gatherings avoided attending these functions to evade unnecessary trouble that might crop up due to his presence. He argues that as DJ his presence would have attracted unwanted attention of the guests attending the function and would have caused embarrassment to the organizers. “I did not want to be the cause of trouble for others and therefore avoided taking up any assignments initially. We were financially broke for the first six months and due to family support alone we could pull on days”, says Vijay Kumar.
Vijay is not highly educated and it was only due to his talent he was able to make a name for himself as a DJ. He is quite vocal about this when he says: “I am not highly educated. After my SSLC I started working and came up in life by sheer hard work and determination. But everything was shattered in a matter of five minutes and that is something which I found difficult to come to terms with”.
It goes to their credit that Vijay and Guru did not quail even when faced with a barrage of difficulties and that helped. As a result they have been able to pick up the threads of their devastated lives and rebuild it once again from scratch. But both have no regrets for their decision to come out in the open and face the society.
Naveen Soorinje the journalist who exposed the macabre home stay incident had to pay a heavy prize as he was arrested and charged with multiple sections of IPC including criminal conspiracy. He was in jail for 4 ½ months before he was granted bail by the High Court based on the statement given by complainant victim Vijay Kumar who told the High Court that Naveen Soorinje had actually helped the victims and was not the accused.
Attitudinal change
Soorinje opines that all the victims including the girls who were attacked should have come forward to file a complaint. He says that he had a ‘class’ in the jail during his five month stint and feels that his life has taken a turn for the better. He also opines that if the girls who were assaulted and sexually molested in the name of moral policing had filed a complaint the case would have been on a strong footing. “Even now I feel that the girl victims should have filed a complaint. If they had refused the police should have counseled them on the expediency of filing a complaint. Otherwise the police had the opportunity to treat the statements given by girls as a complaint”.
Soorinje firmly believes that girls or boys who are victims of such attacks should not worry about their reputation or status in the society. “These girls and boys were just partying and that is not a crime. These victims should have thought it is the reputation of the attackers which is at stake in such incidents and not that of the victims”.
Of course, it is easier said than done, as Vijay Kumar and Gurudatt Kamath would tell us. But there is an urgent need for an attitudinal change in the society which often crucifies the victims and treats them askance. Soorinje says he was a victim of such discrimination when the management of a city college recently refused to give him a hall saying he has a bad reputation. If this is the treatment meted out to a journalist one can imagine the fate of the common victims.
There were in all 44 accused in the case out of which 38 were arrested by the police including the arrest of Manu alias Manoj who fell into the police net just last week. 13 youngsters including five girls were partying at Morning Mist home stay celebrating the birthday of Vijay Kumar on July 28, 2012.
The second additional district sessions court granted bail to 16 more accused in the attack on July 25, 2013. 19 accused were released on bail earlier. Now except the main accused Subhash Padil and Munna and Manoj who was arrested last week, all the other accused are out on bail.
Mohan Padil who many consider as the mastermind of the disgraceful act was the BJP corporator at the time of the incident. He later switched sides and joined JD (S) from where he contested Corporation elections and lost. Since then he has joined the Congress. Despite changing parties he still says that Morning Mist home stay was used for immoral activity. When contacted by daijiworld.com Mohan Padil defended the attack saying “this incident would serve as a lesson for many others indulging in activities which are against our culture”. He had no answer when asked whether sexual attack on girls by the goons was in accordance with Indian culture. He says whatever might be the political party he might join he would fight against unjust and immoral acts.
The owner of Morning Mist home stay Loretta Rebello must be credited for facing the situation with determination and with indefatigable efforts. Any other lesser person would have given up in such a situation. But Loretta, who is well informed about her constitutional rights and her duties as a citizen, faced the slugfest with fortitude. She is a warrior who has always fought against injustice and for her rights. She says she only felt sorry for the children who faced the wrath of the attackers on that fateful day. She also says she has never been on the wrong side of the law and has faith in Indian judiciary and therefore has nothing to fear.
The Morning Mist home stay attack is a chilling reminder of the violent brand of cultural extremism prevalent in the coastal districts of undivided Dakshina Kannada district in the name of moral policing. One only hopes the accused who spent nearly one year in the jail have learnt a lesson for the better and would not indulge in Talibanisation of Mangalore any more.