No clear evidence of assault on couple in Kolkata Metro found: GM

The Kolkata Metro authority on Wednesday said "no clear evidence" of an alleged assault on a couple in a station premises was found after examining the CCTV footage but appealed the passengers to act responsibly to avoid any untoward incidents in future.

A young couple was allegedly thrashed by co-passengers at Dumdum metro station on Monday (April 30) night for hugging inside the metro compartment.

"All the CCTV footage at the station premises were thoroughly examined but no clear evidence of assault was found. No FIR was lodged by the couple either. So no actions could be taken," Metro Railway General Manager Ajay Vijayvargiya told reporters here.

He said no information or complaints received received from the couple or any other passengers following the incident and it came to their knowledge after an article was published in a Bengali daily on Tuesday.

The metro authority also said additional security measures like installing more CCTV cameras at the station premises would be underway shortly.

As the pictures of the alleged incident went viral in the social media over the last couple of days, youths held a demonstration on outside Dumdum and Tollygunj metro stations in Kolkata against moral policing in a train on Tuesday and offered "free hugs" to people to lodge their protest.

"We are doing nothing ... we are here just to spread love. Love will overpower everything. We have nothing more to say," a demonstrator said.

"Be it love or anger or cruelty, it's all about expression. We are trying to spread positive expression, to do away with all the negativities around," a female protester quipped.

The Kolkata Metro issued a statement on Tuesday stating it is strictly against any form of moral policing.

--IANS

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