Halflong, Guwahati: An incident of alleged molestation in Assam's Halflong town would have passed unnoticed, but for a girl who decided to take on an entire group of army personnel.
Diganta Das, a stringer with NDTV, was sitting at a tea shop nearby and filmed the dramatic scene on his cellphone. The footage shows the girl beating up an army jawan who reportedly visited her garment shop and made lewd comments and even touched her.
Rali Faihriem owns a branded garment shop in the middle of Halflong town. Lancenaik Gurvinder Singh of the 8th Battalion of the Sikh Regiment visited the shop, in combat dress with arms, on Wednesday afternoon to buy innerwear. When the girl was showing him the stock available at her shop, the jawan allegedly made some advances. Rali then pulled him out of the shop and stoned him in front of everyone.
The Army has ordered an enquiry into the incident after Rali filed an FIR.
N C Hills has a very heavy army presence. About 70 companies of security personnel deployed across the district are engaged in counter insurgency operations. Conflict zones have always reported allegations of violence against women by the armed forces but it is rare for women to hit back.