Ranchi, April 3 Three people have been arrested, and a minor has been detained in connection with the alleged public humiliation of a 28-year-old woman and her minor daughter in Ranchi district, Jharkhand, police said on Friday.
The victims were smeared with black paint on their faces and paraded by their neighbors on March 29 within the Sadar Police Station limits in the Bhabhanagra colony.
"So far, we have arrested three people, including two women, and a minor has been detained. The accused, Gunja Shreevastav (32), was arrested on Wednesday. Earlier, the main accused, Pankaj Singh (28), and Santana Kumari (28), were apprehended in this connection," said DSP, Sadar Police Station, Sanjeev Besra.
The accused were arrested after an FIR was lodged at the police station based on the written complaints of the victims. The accused have been booked under multiple sections of the BNS and several sections of the SC/ST Act, the DSP said.
During the 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 they are neighbors living in rented houses in the same colony, officer in-charge of Sadar Police Station, Kuldeep Kumar, said.
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, he said.
On the day of the incident, the accused, along with his woman friend and two others, caught hold of the victim and her daughter, smeared black paint on her face, and humiliated her in public, he said.
Meanwhile, Satish Paul Munjini, Media Chairman of the Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee, has strongly condemned the inhuman treatment meted out to a tribal woman and her daughter.
He stated that grabbing the woman and her daughter, smearing her face with black paint, and parading her on the streets is the height of barbarism.
He demanded that every person involved in this incident should be given exemplary punishment.
Munjini said that the Jharkhand Congress stands firmly with the victim and will continue to strongly raise this issue until justice is ensured.
Earlier on Thursday, some tribal outfits had protested at the colony. They also condemned the incident and demanded strict punishment for the accused.