Yogi Adityanath Anti Romeo Squads

It is noon and about 50 Uttar Pradesh policemen are listening in rapt attention to a senior officer Navneet Sikera, at a conference room in the Lucknow offices of 1090, the much-hyped women's helpline started five years ago by the previous Akhilesh Yadav government.

Anti-Romeo squads in Uttar Pradesh, accused of publicly shaming couples and young men in the name of protecting women from harassment, today received an endorsement as Yogi Adityanath held his first cabinet meeting after taking charge 15 days ago.

"He has done a wrong thing...he will not do it the next time," a voice is heard in a video that shows a man sitting on the ground, his head being shaved in the presence of police constables from an "anti-Romeo" squad in Shahjahanpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

As two policemen harassed a young couple, demanding a bribe for their release, relatives secretly filmed the transaction.

In the heart of Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow, at the busy and upscale Hazratganj market, an anti-Romeo squad - a team of about 30 policemen - swings into action at around 4 pm.

Choosing the direction of his government is entirely Adityanath's prerogative. If he believes that it should be oriented towards the three traditional Hindutva concerns - Ram, Cow and Muslim - then he has every right to push it in that direction, subject, of course, to the checks on executive authority that the constitution provides. Who knows? A g...

It is noon and about 50 Uttar Pradesh policemen are listening in rapt attention to a senior officer Navneet Sikera, at a conference room in the Lucknow offices of 1090, the much-hyped women's helpline started five years ago by the previous Akhilesh Yadav government.

Anti-Romeo squads in Uttar Pradesh, accused of publicly shaming couples and young men in the name of protecting women from harassment, today received an endorsement as Yogi Adityanath held his first cabinet meeting after taking charge 15 days ago.

"He has done a wrong thing...he will not do it the next time," a voice is heard in a video that shows a man sitting on the ground, his head being shaved in the presence of police constables from an "anti-Romeo" squad in Shahjahanpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

As two policemen harassed a young couple, demanding a bribe for their release, relatives secretly filmed the transaction.

In the heart of Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow, at the busy and upscale Hazratganj market, an anti-Romeo squad - a team of about 30 policemen - swings into action at around 4 pm.

Choosing the direction of his government is entirely Adityanath's prerogative. If he believes that it should be oriented towards the three traditional Hindutva concerns - Ram, Cow and Muslim - then he has every right to push it in that direction, subject, of course, to the checks on executive authority that the constitution provides. Who knows? A g...