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Drilling to dispute: How AC installation led to racial abuse against three Arunachal women in Delhi
The three women, hailing from Arunachal Pradesh, accused their neighbours of humiliation and intimidation, citing racial slurs and and sexist remarks.
Minor repair work being carried out at the rented flat of three women from Arunachal Pradesh was the starting point of the dispute that led to allegations of racial slurs, and resulted in an FIR against a neighbour couple in Delhi's Malviya Nagar.
The three women accused their neighbours of humiliation and intimidation, citing racial slurs and and sexist remarks.
The incident took place while the women were carrying repair work at their rented flat in Malviya Nagar, which led to an argument with their neighbours, Harsh Singh and his wife Ruby Jain, last week.
An FIR has since been registered under BNS sections pertaining to outraging a woman's modesty and promoting enmity on grounds of religion, race, etc., against the couple, news agency PTI reported.
What happened?
The incident unfolded on February 20 when the three women had called an electrician at their apartment at 3.30 pm for installation of an air conditioner.
During this process, dust and debris from the drilling work required for the installation fell to the floor below, which sparked objections from residents Harsh Singh and his wife, PTI reported.
One of the women said, while speaking to news agency ANI, that during the fixing work, some dust particles had fallen to the first floor, which led to Singh and his wife “getting very angry".
Complainant alleged Singh used threats, called police
The couple allegedly abused the electrician called in by the women for the installation work. According to one of the women, they defended the electrician saying he was carrying out the drilling work at their place.
“We asked him why he was abusing the electrician. The electrician was also apologising a lot. But then they started fighting with us,” the woman told ANI, also claiming that the accused threatened her.
“He said very bad things, following which the fight started. We went upstairs after a bit but he still didn't stop. He kept yelling from downstairs and then called in the police, which again led to a dispute,” the woman said.
Racial abuse, sexist remarks
Videos of the incident are circulating on social media, with one of them showing the accused woman allegedly calling the Arunchali women “momo” — used as a slur, referring to popular Northeastern food.
The accused further said, speaking in Hindi: “You work at massage parlours for ₹500. Are you sitting here to do business ('dhandha')? Have you opened a massage parlour at home?”
The videos show a police officer present when the altercation was taking place. The officer can be seen trying to pacify the situation. The accused woman also allegedly used threats against the three by referring to her husband's position, saying, “Do you know who he is? He is the son of a customs officer.”
HT.com has not independently verified the authenticity of these videos.
In another portion of the video, the accused woman responds after one of the women calls her husband “old”.
“Go to my bedroom. You will come to know how old is he,” she says.
Meanwhile, the accused man is also seen shouting and using derogatory remarks against the three women.
During the exchange, the women from Arunachal also claimed that the couple had made “false allegations” against them.
“Everyone heard what you said about my image. You made false allegations that I drink alcohol. Go check my room if you find any bottles there,” one of the women says.
What did police say? What have the women demanded?
After the incident, the police registered an FIR under BNS sections 79 (word intended to insult a woman's modesty), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 3(5) (common intention) and 196 (promoting enmity on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.) against Singh and his wife, PTI reported.
No arrests have been made so far. However, Section 196 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita is a non-bailable offence.
A senior police officer told PTI that no physical injuries were reported, but the complainants have alleged “mental harassment and humiliation.”
The women have demanded a formal apology from the accused couple, saying that the remarks did not just hurt them but had targeted the dignity of the entire northeastern community. “They should face some punishment, because how can someone say such things and get away with it,” one of the women told ANI.
