Hyderabad: Counsellors attached to various police stations in the city say there have been several cases of mentally disturbed youths, who watched surcharged hate videos and then acted in aggressive manners.
Most of them were from the lower strata of the society. Counsellors say fear is building up not only among girls but also among boys and their families as many of them are getting caught in police cases.
In a recent incident at Mahbubabad, a young boy and girl were harassed. The boy left the bike and ran away and the girl was later questioned by counselors. It came to light that they were having an affair but were from different religious backgrounds.
Khalida Parveen who works among women and youth in the Old City says, "Cases are booked against both the boy and the girl and their parents are also dragged into such situations. It is often that parents are not aware that the boy and girl have been seeing each other. The road rage exhibited by some fanatics is unacceptable and must be curbed."
There are those who say polarisation and political interference in localities are giving these cases a different colour.
A social worker says, "There are two young adults in a given situation. By targeting them and making a huge noise about their friendship, communal divisions are being accentuated. Whether this is being done with an eye on vote bank politics or for religious polarisation is difficult to say. This is a dangerous trend and we are advising them to dial toll free number 100 for help if anyone feels threatened.”
