Anti-Romeo squad comes under ‘scanner’ for tonsuring alleged molester’s head

Anti-romeo squad officers tonsured a man's head for allegedly molesting a woman in Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur.

Lucknow, April 1: A day after new dos and don'ts for Uttar Pradesh's anti-Romeo squads were issued by the state's police chief, officers of the aforementioned squad came under the scanner for tonsuring the head of an alleged 'molester' in Shahjahanpur on Saturday.

According to ANI, officers of an anti-Romeo squad detained a man for allegedly molesting a woman in Shahjahanpur. Afterwards, the squad tonsured the alleged molester's head. Currently, the police is investigating the matter as it has created a new controversy.

Anti-Romeo squads have been formed across Uttar Pradesh after Adityanath Yogi became the chief minister of the state recently. The Bharatiya Janata Party in its election manifesto had promised to form such squads to protect women from eve-teasers, molesters and rapists. These squads are run by the state police department.

The Uttar Pradesh police was on Friday directed by the state government to ensure that such squads do not resort to blackening of the face or 'murga position-type punishments (a stress position used as a corporal punishment where sit-ups are done holding the ears) in the name of protecting women.

The move by the government comes amid outrage over the way the squads have punished loitering men on the streets and a day after the Allahabad high court directed it to ensure that guidelines were followed by the police teams and action taken as per the law.

There should be no shaving of heads, blackening of faces or a murga pose, said a senior official while listing out the dos and don'ts.

The fresh guidelines were issued after Adityanath's intervention amid reports of alleged harassment by anti-Romeo squads.

OneIndia News