Raigarh, Jan 6 (PTI) A man accused of involvement in an assault of a woman police constable during a protest against a coal mine in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district was paraded in undergarments after his arrest, videos showed.
The treatment meted out to Chitrasen Sao, who was arrested on Monday, while in police custody drew criticism from activists and a retired IPS official who said it was a blow to the rule of law.
Sao is the sixth person to be held in connection with the December 27 incident.
When he was being taken to the Raigarh district court in a police vehicle on Monday, a viral video showed some women police personnel pulling him out near Hemu Kalani Chowk and marching him on foot, with his hands cuffed, to Chakradhar Nagar police station.
He is seen walking in his undergarments as some women police personnel blackened his face, applied lipstick to him, made him wear bangles and a garland of shoes, and forced him to hold his ears.
Some women personnel were later seen celebrating by cutting a cake and bursting firecrackers after Sao was sent in judicial custody.
Retired Indian Police Service officer and former Director General R K Vij termed these acts as “completely wrong”.
In a post on X, Vij said that making an accused wear a garland of shoes and parading him in handcuffs was a clear violation of the law.
Raipur-based RTI activist Kunal Shukla said he had submitted a complaint to the Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court over the incident, and was going to file a petition.
In a post on X, Shukla said the accused was subjected to “brutal and inhuman treatment” under official protection, which was a gross violation of human rights and a serious blow to the rule of law.
On December 27, a demonstration by residents of 14 villages against a coal mine allotted to Jindal Power Limited turned violent in the Tamnar block of Raigarh, resulting in arson and stone pelting.
A mob surrounded a woman constable and assaulted her. A video showed her begging for mercy as two men tore off her clothes. PTI COR TKP KRK
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