The Kerala Police suo moto registered a case on Monday against Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s women’s wing Durga Vahini for their May 22 march with arms. The case has been registered close on the heels of the arrest of 18 people in the case of an underaged boy’s inflammatory sloganeering during a Popular Front of India's march.
The march, in which around 200 women in the age group of 15–35 took part, was organised on May 22 at Aryancode, a village in the rural part of the capital district, to commemorate the conclusion of Durga Vahini’s study class. Partial footage of the march, in which women were seen carrying swords and sticks, went viral and garnered criticism from various quarters.
The Socialist Democratic Party of India, PFI’s political wing, was also said to have made complaints about the march.
The police said that the case was registered under sections of the Arms Act, alongside several sections of the Indian Penal Code. Around 200 identifiable persons, including the organisers of the event, were arraigned in the case. Although the local police had been informed about the march, there was no mention of any sorts of arms being carried during the march.
The police said that further steps would be taken after a detailed review of the video footage.