RAIPUR: With his face smeared black, a garland of slippers hanging from his neck and fireworks bursting around him, the man allegedly accused of assaulting and partially stripping a woman police constable in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district was marched through town on Monday which was a rare public show of police fury.
Male and female personnel formed a ring around accused Chitraseen Sao, forcing him to shout slogans such as “Police hamari baap hai, vardi phaadna paap hai” as he was paraded from Raigarh’s Hemu Kalani Chowk to the court. At one point, officers made him do sit-ups on the road while bystanders recorded videos and police cracked fireworks in symbolic success.
The dramatic procession came days after a violent protest against the Gare Pelma Sector-1 coal project in Tamnar block, where a mob assaulted police personnel including the local woman police inspector and another woman constable was partially disrobed, an incident captured in disturbing videos that triggered widespread outrage in the force.
Police said Chitraseen Sao, identified as the main accused in the assault and humiliation of the woman constable and the attack on inspector Kamla Pusham, was arrested on Monday after days of intensive searches.
With his arrest, six accused have now been held and were identified as Mangal Rathiya, Chinesh Khamari, Premsingh Rathiya, Kirti Srivas (all from Aamgaon), Vanmali Rathiya (Jharna) and Chitraseen Sao. One more suspect remains at large.
What triggered the violence
The clashes stem from a Dec 8 public hearing on the proposed Gare Pelma Sector-1 coal block. Opposing the project, residents of 14 affected villages launched an economic blockade at Libra village from Dece 12, halting coal movement and traffic.
On Dec 27, around 9 am, nearly 300 villagers gathered at Libra Chowk and blocked the highway. The crowd soon swelled to nearly 1,000. Police and administrative officials repeatedly appealed for calm and asked protesters to return to the designated protest site.
Protesters broke police barricades, hurled stones and attacked officers with sticks. Videos later showed Inspector Kamla Pusham being kicked and punched by women protesters. Several police personnel, including women constables, were injured and taken to hospital.
One of the most distressing videos showed a woman constable crying and pleading, addressing the attackers as “brother” and asking to be released. A male voice is heard threatening: “Shall I hit you with my slipper? Run from here.”
Another viral clip shows a protester pulling at her clothes as she screams for help.
Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Deepak Baij had strongly condemned the assault, calling it a "shameful incident that has shaken humanity."
With more than 4,000 villagers participating, protesters demanded that the coal block’s public hearing be withdrawn. The Jindal company eventually announced it would not conduct the hearing “for now”.
After the violence, Tamnar police registered an FIR with multiple IPC sections for rioting, assault on public servants, arson, outraging modesty and provisions of the IT Act related to circulation of objectionable videos. Searches were launched across villages to trace the accused.
Earlier, on January 2, two accused — Mangal Rathiya and Chinesh Khamari — were brought to the district jail, where a group of women constables had demanded a public march of the arrested. Senior officers had intervened and prevented it then.
With the arrest and public procession of Chitraseen Sao, police personnel said Monday’s march was their response to the “humiliation” suffered by their colleagues.
The probe into the wider conspiracy, destruction of property and assault on police officers continues.