Mangaluru : Victims of assault following communal trouble in Ulaibettu in December, 2014, have termed the support of B.A. Mohiuddin Bava, MLA, to a person involved in communal trouble, as unfortunate.

“When the victim of alleged assault and molestation has clearly identified the accused, how could the MLA term him innocent,” wondered the victims.

“He is not the MLA for a particular community but for the entire constituency. By terming the arrested person as ‘innocent,’ our MLA has totally ignored the trouble we have gone through following incident,” said a resident of Ulaibettu, who was among the victims of attack.

The victims of the assault were responding to a statement of Mr. Bava on Thursday that Mangaluru Rural police had arrested an innocent Aboobacker Siddiqui in connection with the attack.

This had allegedly led to Pramod Kumar, the inspector concerned, being asked to go on leave on December 8. Following protest by policemen and residents, Mr. Kumar reported back to duty on the same night.

The victom told the reporters here on Friday that she was in an autorickshaw along with her two brothers.

“My brothers were badly hit. I was also assaulted and an attempt was made to molest me,” she said. “Following Siddiqui’s arrest, I was called to the police station where I identified Aboobacker Siddiqui,” she said and added there was no mistaken identity as claimed by relatives of Siddiqui.

Another male victim of the attack said that the life of victims of the attack has been pitiable. He had been hit on his face that led him to go for dentures.

“We still live in a constant fear of being attacked by persons involved in the attack, who are freely roaming in the area,” he said.

Another victim said there has been a semblance of peace in the locality after police patrol was intensified by Inspector Pramod Kumar. “It is unfortunate that our MLA is not interested in getting persons behind the trouble in Ulaibettu arrested,” said a victim’s mother.