Eight Bengali Workers Stripped, Paraded In Odisha's Sundergarh For 'Misbehaving' With Woman

DIG Brijesh Rai said that police have launched a manhunt to apprehend those people for taking the law into their own hands and humiliating the workers.

Eight migrant workers, originally from West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, were stripped and paraded on a road in Odisha’s Sundergarh town on Thursday after being accused of attempting to outrage a local woman’s modesty, police said, as reported by news agency PTI.

Police stated that the incident took place on Mission Road between 8:30 am and 9 am, where local residents tied the workers' hands and thrashed them before parading them semi-nude. The victims, who were working as masons, were later rescued by Sundergarh Town police after being alerted by residents.

"We have registered two cases - one against 10 persons for stripping, thrashing, and parading the eight workers, and another based on the woman’s complaint against one of the workers," PTI quoted DIG Rourkela Brijesh Rai as saying.

Police Launch Search Operation

DIG Brijesh Rai said that police have launched a manhunt to apprehend those people for taking the law into their own hands and humiliating the workers. "Police are investigating both cases, and no arrests have been made so far," Rai said adding that they have found 10 people involved in assaulting the workers.

The woman, in her complaint, alleged that one of the workers attempted to outrage her modesty while she was returning home after a bath on Wednesday. After this, locals attacked the workers' residences, tied their hands, stripped them, and paraded them in public, police said.

Meanwhile, police attempted to rescue the workers but they faced strong protests from the locals. Eyewitnesses disclosed that a journalist covering the incident was also allegedly threatened by the residents.