Locals vandalised shops owned by members of the Muslim community and protested in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district after a barber molested a minor girl in the district. Police were deployed in the area and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami took stock of the situation and assured strict action against the accused.
According to police, the incident took place on August 21 when the accused passed lewd comments and made obscene gestures at the girl who lives near his shop. On Saturday, when the girl’s father, who was out of station, returned home, she told him about the incident.
“The victim’s father has lodged a complaint against the accused in Nandanagar police station. The accused is absconding. We have booked him under relevant sections of POCSO and investigation is on,” said station officer, Nandanagar (Chamoli).
With the police unable to arrest the accused hours after the compliant, the locals took out a procession in the town and vandalised the shops of the accused and other people. Narendra Tomar, a sub-inspector attached to the Nandanagar police station, said “four to five shops of Muslims were vandalised”.
The police ordered shopkeepers to down the shutters to avoid any untoward incident. Superintendent of Police, Sarvesh Panwar, reached the spot and controlled the situation after speaking to locals.
Mr. Dhami said women’s safety and respect are of paramount importance. “We condemn any unpleasant incident happening with any woman. The law will punish the culprit. Such incidents cannot be tolerated in Devbhoomi,” he said. Read CommentsPRINT
This story was originally published in thehindu.com.