Mob cuts off tribal girl’s hair

Bhubaneswar: A 19-year-old tribal girl in Odisha’s Bolangir district on Thursday filed a police complaint accusing a group of locals — upper caste people — of inhumanly torturing her on alleged theft of a mobile phone costing as less as Rs 3,000.

The victim hailing from Pardihapali under Bolangir Sadar Police limits said the accused surrounded her while she was going to attend her tailoring classes in Bolangir town and beat her up. Not contended with this, they cut her hair to make sure she looked ugly.

“Although I told them their doubt on me was unfounded, they did not stop beating me. They cut my hair off to put pressure on me to admit in public that I was the culprit. They humiliated me in many other ways,” the victim said in her complaint.

“On March 6 afternoon, when I was on my way to attend tailoring classes, Byasa Pradhan, some his family members and a few other locals nabbed me and alleged I stole a mobile phone. While thrashing me, they cut my hair off and stained black on my face,” the girl alleged.

“As my parents were not at the house on that day, I did not dare to file a complaint with police,” she said, adding that after her parents came back, she visited the police station and lodged a complaint with help of a tribal leader, Satya Bhoi. The incident has drawn criticism from various quarters in the state.

Bolangiri Zilla Adivasi Sangh has demanded stringent action against the accused. Sub-divisional police officer Saroj Mohapatra said a case is registered and an investigation has been started in the case.