A Muslim boy was beaten up by locals for supposedly posing with his female Hindu classmates for a photo in Mangalore, a port city in India’s southern Karnataka state, reported BBC.

The incident has raised fresh debates on the intrepid steps taken by whom some refer to as the Indian “moral police”.

The image, which originally surfaced on WhatsApp and went viral later, shows a young man in school uniform lying on the laps of five women, also in uniforms, to pose for a photo.Two other young men can also be seen in the photo’s background.

Despite the photo showing no concrete sign of obscenity, Indian media reports say one of the boys from the photo was picked up by a gang of locals and taken to a remote location. Once reached, the boy was allegedly beaten in a savage fashion before he was driven back.

Authorities say the victim, who is reported as 20-year-old Muhammad Riyaz, was targeted because of him being a Muslim and posing with women who are believed to be of Hindu faith.

"After the photograph was circulated on social media sites, a vigilante group got other students from the college to identify the deviant youth and on learning that he was probably a Muslim, decided to attack him," Assistant Commissioner of Police Ravi Kumar told The Indian Express.

Riyaz, a computer science student, was admitted to a hospital after he suffered serious injuries and his father filed a complaint with the police who registered a case of abduction and attempt to murder against the hoodlums.

Conservative Hindu groups in India see acts of flirtatious nature or public displays of affection as being in contrast to Indian culture and values.

Earlier on the occasion of Valentine’s Day in 2015, the Akhil Bhart Hindu Mahasabha party had planned to dispatch teams to public spots in the Indian capital and target canoodling couples. The vigilante groups then planned to force the couples to marry on the spot.

Delhi university students protested against the plans by descending on the offices of the party and demanding a mass wedding.