In an act of moral policing, a 29-year-old woman has reported that she was abused by a group of five persons while returning from Didupe Falls in Belthangady taluk on Sunday, as she was accompanied by her boyfriend, who was from a different community.

In the complaint to the Belthangady police, the woman, a native of Sullia taluk and a customer relations executive at a jewellery store in Mangaluru, said that she was riding pillion on a motorcycle with her boyfriend, a Muslim, to Didupe Falls on Sunday.

She entered both their names in the Forest Department check-post register and went to the falls. When they returned to the check-post around 4.30 p.m., the Forest Department personnel asked for both of their identity cards. The woman showed her identity card, and her boyfriend said he did not have the identity card with him. After finding out her boyfriend’s name, the Forest Department personnel said some people were looking for him.

The complainant said she asked her friend to leave immediately when walking towards the parking area. A group of five persons then abused her for going to the falls with a person from another community. They snatched her mobile phone and searched it before asking her to call her boyfriend to the spot.

The police said when they reached the spot soon after, the five accused had already left.

The woman has given the names of the accused persons as Ranjith, Sudarshan, Swasthik, Pradeep, and Deekshit. The police registered a complaint for offences under Sections 126(2) (wrongful restraint), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and 351(2) (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

A search was on for the accused, the police said.

Published - July 14, 2026 08:59 pm IST