Unable to repay Rs 3,100 loan, garlic vendor stripped, assaulted in Noida
Noida (PTI): A 35-year-old garlic vendor in Noida was stripped and assaulted by a commission agent and his aides over non-payment of a part of a Rs 5,600 loan, police said on Tuesday.
Two persons, including the 'aadhti' (commission agent), have been arrested and strictest action would be taken against them, Additional DCP (Central Noida) Rajiv Dixit said.
The vendor, who had taken the loan around a month ago for work, stated in his complaint that he owns a garlic cart and works at the fruits and vegetables market in Sector 88.
On Monday, he went to repay Rs 2,500 of the Rs 5,600 and requested that he would eventually repay the remaining amount, according to the vendor.
"However, the commission agent called in his accountant and two labourers to the shop. They held me inside the shop and stripped me of my clothes before assaulting me with sticks and hurling abuses at me," the vendor, who hails from Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh, said.
A video of the incident also surfaced on social media, purportedly showing the vendor being forced to strip while expletives were being hurled at him.
Later, the naked man was sent out of the shop in the open area without any clothes.
Additional DCP Dixit said an FIR was lodged in the case on Monday itself under relevant provisions of the law.
"Sundar Singh, the main accused, and his aide Bhagandas Singh have been arrested. Those absconding will also be nabbed soon and the strictest action taken against them as per law," Dixit said.
The FIR has been lodged at the local Phase 2 police station under IPC sections 323, 342, 357, 504, 506 and under Section 66E of the Information Technology Act, the police said.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
