The Times of India reports:
A young, married couple, who chose to spend a relaxed Sunday evening at Bugle Rock Park, Basavanagudi, had a horrifying time after two policemen hurled filthy abuses at them, roughed them up, threatened them and took them to a police station.
Even more shocking about the intimidation was that Nisha and Vikram (names changed) were merely enjoying the evening breeze on a bench. The couple has been married for four years now.
In fact, they were chatting on their respective mobiles around 6.45 pm, when a plainclothes constable approached them and questioned them rudely. Asked if they’d done something wrong and whether he could prove his identity, the constable jeered at them: “Oh, you want to see my ID, I will show you now.” Then he pulled Vikram by his collar and roughed him up.
Later, a cop in uniform emerged and threatened to kill Vikram.
The lady is question here turned out to be “a journalist with a national daily”, and that probably saved their skin. But do consider how similar this case is to the Matunga Racket. You have a victimless crime, you have a plainclothes cop and then a uniformed cop, you have intimidation, and at the end you’d usually have a bribe to the policemen, who were ignoring real issues of law and order all this while to cash in on this revenue stream. I wonder if there are police academies that teach these procedures to young recruits.
Earlier: Regulating Affection.