Woman's Hair Chopped Off, Paraded With Blackened Face In Himachal

Five people have been booked for allegedly chopping off a woman's hair and parading her with a blackened face in a village here, police said on Friday.

The matter came to light after a three-minute video clip of the incident went viral on social media, they added.

The incident occurred in the Bhoranj area here on August 31 when the in-laws of the woman chopped off her hair, blackened her face and made her parade in the village, the police said.

The viral video of the incident showed a few people blackening the woman's face and forcing her to walk in the village. It did not show anyone coming forward to help her, they added.

Taking cognisance of the incident, the police contacted the victim and based on her complaint, a case was registered against five persons.

Terming the incident as unfortunate, Himachal Pradesh Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena said the state government has taken strong cognisance of the incident and the local officials investigating the case would submit their report in this regard.

"Such incidents are rare in Himachal Pradesh and it is a serious matter. Efforts would be made that the victim gets justice and such incidents are not repeated in future," Saxena said, adding that any action needed at the government level would be taken.

Calling the incident "harrowing", state Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur demanded stringent punishment against the perpetrators.

Jai Ram Thakur, in a statement, said, "Such heinous crime have no place in the state and the culprits should not be spared." 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)