Kasaragod: Melparamba police arrested four persons for assaulting a group of six holidayers -- three females and three males -- returning from Bekal Fort, in what appears to be a case of moral policing.

The arrested persons were identified as Abdul Manzoor T A (41) of Kalnad, Abdul Khader Afeeq K (37) of Chemnad, Mohammed Nizar (38) of Chattanchal, and Arif B K (32) of Deli in Chemnad panchayat.

The first two accused were arrested before for theft, and the third accused in a narcotics case and drunk driving case, said an officer of Melparamba police station.

Police said the travellers were harassed and attacked when they pulled over in front of a restaurant at Melparamba, 10km from Bekal Fort, Sunday evening.

Returning from birthday party

One of the boys, who turned 18 years on Sunday, invited his female classmate for his birthday celebration at Bekal Fort, said the officer. She turned up with her 17-year-old female friend. The birthday boy also came with his friend, and the four took a bus to Bekal from Kasaragod town.

While returning, the birthday boy's elder brother and his fiancé picked up the four from Bekal in their car.

They stopped in front of the restaurant in Melparamba but did not immediately get out of the car because of the rain, said police. That led to a group of men questioning and harassing the travellers.

"When one of the women confronted them, she was attacked. They attacked a man too," said another officer.

Based on the travellers' complaint, police charged the four accused with assaulting women with the intent to outrage their modesty (section 354 of the IPC), criminal intimidation (S 506 of IPC), obscene acts (S 294 (B) of IPC), unlawful assembly (S 143), rioting (S 147), wrongful detention (S 341), voluntarily causing hurt (S 325).

Section 354 attracts a punishment of up to five years in prison.