When 16-year-old Rukku Khushi came to the Star News office at Mahalakshmi with 23-year-old Abdul Kadir, all the way from Surat on April 13, the story was simple: A Hindu minor was in love with a Muslim boy.

But on Monday, soon after the couple had gone on national television, the channel’s Mumbai office was attacked by men belonging to a little-known outfit called the Hindu Rashtra Sena. They ransacked the office, smashed windows and beat up two guards, accusing the channel of negative portrayal of the Hindu girl from Surat “kidnapped” by her companion.

Star CEO Uday Shanker said some of his colleagues were injured and widespread damage caused to office property in the attack.

He said the attackers left pamphlets protesting against the channel’s projection of the story of a Hindu girl falling in love with a Muslim man and wanting to marry him.

The channel’s Executive Editor, Chandramohan Puppala, said: “The couple came seeking protection. The girl kept crying and, in between sobs, said her father had attempted to poison her. We allowed them to speak on national television and later called the police because the girl is underage.”

Additional Commissioner of Police (Central Region) Rajnish Seth, who also visited the spot, told PTI: “Star News had been following the Surat story for the last four days and activists of the Hindu Rashtra Sena were enraged over the negative portrayal of the minor Hindu girl who was kidnapped by her boyfriend from Surat and bought to Mumbai.”

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