Dozens of youths today gathered outside Tollygunge and Dumdum metro stations with placards that read "Hok alingan (let's hug)" to protest an alleged moral policing incident inside a train compartment on Monday.
Several of them hugged each other on the platform of Tollygunge station this morning as a mark of their protest.
According to media reports, a few people on Monday objected to a man hugging his female friend on a metro train coach, following which an argument ensued between the two sides. The mob reportedly heckled the couple, pushed them out of the train and beat them up at Dumdum metro station.
A college student, who participated in the protest outside Tollygunge station, said Kolkata is a liberal city and it has no place for moral policing.
"We are here to protest against the moral policing that has taken place in our city. Our city is known as the city of joy and love. We have never witnessed such incidents before. It is completely shameful," he added.
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Another student, who was a part of the team that organised the demonstration at Dumdum station, said: "A man and a woman hugging each other is no crime. It is a sign of affection, not perversion."
Clearing its stand over the incident, Kolkata Metro said today it found no proper evidence of the assault after scanning the footage of the CCTV cameras installed at Dumdum metro station. It added no one has approached it for help.
"We thoroughly checked the CCTV footage at Dumdum and found no clear evidence of any assault. The captured images show a few persons assembled at the station at 9.55 pm. Some were also seen exiting the gate," Metro Railway General Manager Ajay Vijayvargiya told reporters here.
"The matter came to our notice only from a media report yesterday and we have not received any complaint in this regard so far," he said, adding, the footage and the initial findings of the Railway Police Force were shared with Kolkata Police yesterday.
The general manager urged all commuters to conduct themselves in a manner that do not tarnish Kolkata's image.
"Please do not create a situation where metro authorities will be constrained to take action as per statutory and legal provisions," he said.
Stating that existing coaches do not have CCTV cameras, Vijayvargiya said there was no footage of what actually happened inside the coach after the couple allegedly boarded the train at Chandni Chowk station.
He assured people of increased vigilance at all metro stations in the days to come. The new rakes, to be commissioned soon, will be fitted with CCTV cameras, he said.
Asked about today's protests over the incident, Vijayvargiya said the station master at Dumdum station has forwarded a copy of a memorandum signed by agitating students' bodies to the police.
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