E-Paper
Ludhiana: 3 women, two minors paraded with blackened faces; two held
According to the police, the victims worked at the garment factory and owner Parwinder suspected them of stealing garments
The local police registered a case after a garment factory owner and his aide allegedly blackened the faces of five individuals, including four women, and paraded them through the streets in Ekjot Nagar on Bahardurke Road on suspicion of theft, officials aware of the matter said.
Punjab State Child Rights Protection Commission chairman Kanwardeep Singh took a suo motu notice of the incident, calling it a ‘Taliban-style punishment’. Police said the victims included three sisters, including a minor, their underage brother and their paternal aunt (father’s sister). The other two sisters are aged 18 and 19.
They said the factory’s manager, Manpreet Singh, and a worker, Mohammad Kaish, were arrested in connection with the incident, and a hunt is on to nab the owner, Parwinder Singh.
According to the police, the accused forced the victims to hang placards around their necks, reading “I am a thief, and I accept my crime”.
The incident came to fore after videos recorded by onlookers did rounds on social media platforms. In the purported videos, the onlookers could be seen forcing the victims to look into the cameras for better shots, instead of helping them.
HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos. The police registered a case after taking cognisance of the videos and arrested the accused.
The case was registered under Sections 127 (wrongful confinement), 356 (defamation), 74 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 75 (sexual harassment), 61 (2) (criminal conspiracy) and 3 (5) (criminal act done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
According to the police, the victims worked at the garment factory and owner Parwinder suspected them of stealing garments.
The minor girl said the factory owner and manager accused her of theft and thrashed her when she denied the allegations. She alleged the accused brought her aunt, brother and sisters to the factory.
We were beaten and forced to confess to a crime we did not commit, the complainant said.
The minor boy alleged that the accused thrashed and forced him to blacken his own face and those of his sisters and mother. He said they hung placards around their necks and paraded them through the streets.
“The accused followed us while shouting thief, thief. The onlookers humiliated us by recording videos,” said the boy.
Jodhewal station-house officer (SHO) inspector Jasbir Singh said they came to know about the incident through a video and they took up investigation. He said the factory manager and worker have been arrested.
“If the family was suspected of theft, the factory owner should have approached the police. Publicly humiliating them by blackening their faces and making them parade with placards is unlawful. No one is allowed to take the law into their own hands,” said inspector Jasbir.
