Saturday, August 21, 2010

Two more tribal women have been stripped and forced to parade naked in front of large crowds in the Indian state of West Bengal, police say

The incidents were in the same area - the Birbhum district - where a similar case took place a few months ago. Locals say that the women were being punished for "having close relations" with men from other communities. Birbhum police spokesman Humayun Kabir said the two women were from Jetia village and worked in a stone quarry. "Local tribes people did not like these women enjoying close relations with men from other communities," he said. He said that they were subjected to this this "extreme punishment of public stripping" after they were found pillion riding with them on motor-bikes. All three women belong to the Santhal tribe. Officials say all three women were forced to walk long distances without their clothes - in the first case, the woman was also filmed. They say that the "hapless women" were molested and jeered by large crowds as they walked. A similar thing happened to another woman a few years ago in the neighboring state of Assam.

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