Surprising! 'Ghoonghat' halts voting in Haryana

Gurgaon, Oct 15 (IANS) Voting to the Haryana assembly was impacted Wednesday in a village as an official told women to show their faces, police said.

The incident took place in Sikanderpur village in Pataudi constituency.

"An officer forced women to show their faces before casting the votes. How can a woman lift her 'ghoonghat' (veil) before elders of the village...," Ashok Yadav, a resident from Sikanderpur, told IANS.

"We decided to boycott the voting and informed higher authorities," he said.

Virender Singh, Sarpanch Mukesh Devi's husband, said that "police and duty magistrate visited the booth in Sikanderpur village and tried to resolve it".

A police official said that extra police force has been deployed. "The situation is under control and polling is now going smoothly."