Manipur woman assaulted by three who accuse her of spreading coronavirus
A 19-year-old woman from Manipur has alleged that she was assaulted after being accused of spreading coronavirus by at least three people in Fazilpur Jharsa on Sunday. The police, however, said that there was no mention of any racial slur by the woman in the complaint registered by her and she was also booked for allegedly violating lockdown orders as the area is a containment zone.
According to the police, the incident took place around 6.30pm on Sunday when the woman, who hails from Imphal, and has been staying in Gurugram for over three years, was walking to her rented house in Fazilpur Jharsa after visiting her former roommate who stays in the same area.
“I had visited my friend’s house to pick up some luggage. At 6.30pm, as I entered a lane while walking to my house, a woman holding a wooden stick in her hand blocked my path. She hurled abuses and said racist things. She said, ‘Why do you people come here and spread corona?’ I showed her my mask and sanitiser and told her that even I am scared of being infected. I told her to not abuse me, but she started hitting me with the stick,” the woman from Manipur said.
She alleged that as she tried to defend herself, the woman’s two relatives also started hitting her. “I sustained injuries on my head, neck and left arm. One of the suspects asked me to apologise. After a few minutes, I somehow went back to my friend’s house and she reported the incident to the police,” she said, adding that she was administered first aid at a private hospital in Badshahpur.
The police said that acting on her complaint, an FIR was registered on Sunday against three persons under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Badshahpur police station.
The FIR states that the main woman suspect told the Manipur woman, “You people do not understand. Why do you people come here?”
The woman said that she had on Monday written to the station house officer (SHO) of Badshahpur police station, requesting the police to add sections under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Act to the FIR.
Mukesh Kumar, SHO, Badshahpur police station, said, “The woman from Manipur had an argument with a family after the latter asked her not to enter a barricaded lane as the area is a containment zone. The lane had been closed off with bamboos on two sides. During the argument, she was allegedly assaulted. However, in her statement and FIR, there was no mention of any racial slur or accusation of spreading coronavirus.”
The SHO said that on the complaint of the opposing party, the woman from Manipur was booked under Section 188 of IPC and relevant sections of Disaster Management Act as she had violated lockdown orders.
“No arrests have been made in the two cases and we are verifying the allegations,” said Kumar.