Ranchi, March 31 A 28-year-old woman was allegedly smeared with black paint on her face and paraded in Ranchi district, Jharkhand, by a neighbor, police said on Tuesday.
Two people, including a woman, have been arrested in connection with the incident, a police officer said.
The incident occurred on Sunday within the Sadar Police Station limits in the Bhabhanagra colony, he said.
"As soon as the incident was reported to us, we reached the spot and rescued the woman. In this connection, we have arrested a man and his female friend. The accused have been identified as Pankaj Singh alias Pankaj (25) and Santna Kumari (23)," said Kuldeep Kumar, Officer-in-Charge of Sadar Police Station.
The OC said that both have been booked under multiple sections of the BNS and were forwarded to judicial custody on Monday.
The OC further said that upon investigation, it has come to light that four to five days before the incident, the victim's husband had taken Pankaj's motorcycle without informing him, as both are neighbors living in rented houses in the same colony.
Pankaj had been accusing the victim's husband of stealing his bike. The woman (victim) admitted that her husband had taken the bike and assured that it would be returned.
On Sunday, the accused, along with his female friend, caught hold of the victim, smeared black paint on her face and humiliated her in public, he said.
During interrogation, both the accused admitted to the crime. When questioned about why he did not lodge a complaint with the police regarding the bike theft, the accused could not give a satisfactory answer. It appears that the bike might have been stolen. Further investigation into the case is underway, police said.