Four people have been arrested for allegedly assaulting a conductor of the state-owned transport corporation bus for not replying to a passenger in Marathi, police said on Saturday.

The incident occurred on Friday on the outskirts of the district headquarters town of Belagavi bordering Maharashtra, they said.

The conductor has also been booked under the POCSO Act, police said.

With tears in his eyes, the 51-year-old conductor Mahadevappa Mallappa Hukkeri on Friday told reporters that a female who boarded the bus with her male companion at Sulebhavi village spoke in Marathi. Hukkeri said he told her that he did not know Marathi and asked her to speak in Kannada.

“When I said I don’t know Marathi, the girl abused me saying that I must learn Marathi. Suddenly a large number of people gathered and assaulted me on my head and all over the body,” the conductor said.

The injured bus conductor was admitted to the Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences, police said adding he got minor injuries and is out of danger.

“A case was registered and we have arrested four people in connection with the assault on the conductor and based on a counter complaint lodged by a 14-year-old girl, a case was registered against the conductor under Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for allegedly using derogatory remarks against her,” a senior police officer said.

“No arrest has been made yet in connection with the POCSO Act case. We need to investigate, and look into the allegations and accordingly further action will be taken,” he said.

Belagavi has a substantial Marathi-speaking population and a section among them have been demanding the merger of the district with Maharashtra, which is stoutly opposed by the state as well as the Kannada populace residing there.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)