Madhya Pradesh: Minor girls paraded naked in village to please rain god; NCPCR seeks report
Damoh (MP), Sep 6: At least six minor girls were paraded naked in a village in Madhya Pradesh's Damoh district as part of a ritual to please the rain god and get relief from the drought-like situation, officials said on Monday.
Taking cognisance, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) also sought a report from the Damoh district administration about this incident which occurred on Sunday at Baniya village under the Jabera police station area, about 50 km from the Damoh district headquarter, in the Bundelkhand region.
A district official said a response will be submitted to the NCPCR.
Damoh superintendent of police (SP) DR Teniwar said the police received the information that some young girls were paraded naked to appease the God of rains as part of local practice and prevailing social evils.
Police are investigating this incident. Action will be taken if it is found that girls were forced to go naked, he said, adding villagers believe that this practice may result in rain.
According to beliefs, young girls are made to walk naked with a wooden shaft rested on their shoulders with a frog tied to it. Women accompanying these girls sing bhajans to praise the rain god, he said.
Damoh collector S Krishna Chaitanya said the local administration will submit a report in this regard to the NCPCR.
He said the parents of these girls are also involved in this incident and they will be made aware of such superstitious practices.
The district collector said none of the villagers complained about this 'ritual'.
"In such cases, the administration can only make the villagers aware about the futility of such superstition and make them understand that such practices don't yield desired results," he told reporters.
Meanwhile, two videos of the incident have surfaced.
In one of the video clips, girls (looking aged around 5 years) without clothes are seen walking side by side with a wooden shaft resting on their shoulders with a frog tied to it. A group of women singing bhajans follows the procession.
In another video, some women can be heard saying that this ritual was being performed as the paddy crop is drying in the absence of rains.
We believe that this will bring in rains, they can be heard telling the person who recorded the incident.
These women said they will collect raw food grain from villagers during this procession and then cook food for 'bhandara' (group feast) at a local temple.
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
