Woman stripped,assaulted in Patna; Nitish orders probe

It asked the chief minister to ensure such incidents do not recur after the 22-year-old woman from Jharkand became a victim of yet another vigilante action in the state after being suspected to be a cellphone thief.

“It is a highly condemnable incident and we will not tolerate it,” Kumar said,adding he had ordered DGP D N Gautam to inquire into the incident and book the guilty. “A campaign will be launched by the police against vigilante justice,” he told reporters.

Additional DGP (HQ) Neelmani said an assistant sub-inspector Shiv Nath Singh was suspended for alleged dereliction of duty.

Ashok Kumar and Manager Shailendra–the owners of the hotel where the girl stayed–were detained for interrogation,police said. The woman,who was allegedly involved in flesh trade,claimed she was lured to Patna with a job promise.

“It has come to our notice that policemen reached the spot late,” the chief minister said.

Nitish’s bete noire and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad said no probe will serve any purpose since people have taken law into their own hands.

Opposition members in the Assembly stormed the well forcing Speaker U N Choudhary to adjourn the house four times in the pre-lunch session.

The issue was raised in the Assembly by RJD,LJP,Congress and the Left parties whose MLAs shouted slogans like “Mahilaon par atyachar band karo,mahilaon ka utpidan band karo,cheer haran band karo (stop atrocities on women)”.

They urged the Speaker to accept the adjournment motion moved by them seeking a debate on what they claimed as growing atrocities on women in Bihar. Some of the members lifted the reporters’ chairs and put them on the reporters’ desk to register their protest.

Nitish Kumar charged the opposition with ‘politicising’ the incident instead of cooperating with the state government. In New Delhi,NCW Chairperson Girija Vyas said she was “shocked to see TV footage” of the incident.

The woman,a resident of Jasidih,was allegedly engaged in flesh trade and had picked up a quarrel with one Rakesh,a suspected pimp,over sharing of money,police said.

She then took Rakesh’s mobile demanding more money. Rakesh started shouting that she had stolen his mobile phone after which a group of people beat up the woman and allegedly tore her clothes.

“Even if something of that sort has happened,one should go to police,nobody can do like this…I have already written to the Commissioner and Chief Minister that he should take care that such things do not take place,” Vyas said.

Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natrajan said the incident was outrageous deserving severe condemnation. Former Child and Women Development Minister Renuka Choudhury said it was the responsibility of the Chief Minister to launch a crackdown on such elements and set an example.

“If he goes on for a crackdown,it will act as a huge deterrent because a signal goes out that the government is not going to tolerate or accept such behaviour,” she said.