4 women assaulted, two disroped by men in West Bengal

Kolkata, July 24: Four women were allegedly assaulted and two of them disrobed by a mob in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district on Monday on suspicion of being child-lifters, police said.

The incident took place at Dawkimari village in Dhupguri block. This is the fourth such incident in the district in which people were attacked following suspicion of being child-lifters.

Amitabha Maity, Jalpaiguri superintendent of police, said the four women, aged between 20 and 50 years, were not locals and the mob assaulted them as it did not believe the answers they gave to the questions posed to them.

While one woman reportedly told the crowd that she was looking for a relative, another said she was visiting her kin. The third said she sold clothes door-to-door and the fourth woman said she had come to a neighbourhood bank, police said.

Suspecting them to be child-lifters, the mob then allegedly assaulted them and disrobed two of them, Maity said. The women were rescued by the police and taken to a nearby primary health centre, where their condition was stated to be stable, he added.

Earlier this month, several people were injured at the Kranti area of Mal block in the district in stone-pelting following rumours that child-lifters were roaming in the area.

A few days later, a young man was allegedly assaulted at Balapara in Sadar block on suspicion of being a child-lifter, police added.

Maity said though no arrests were made so far in connection with Monday's incident, several people were booked in the earlier incidents.

He added that the rumour of child-lifting was spread by people who wished to disturb the law and order in the district. "We are creating awareness on this through media. People should contact the police on the helpline if they find someone suspicious, but not take law into their own hands," he said.

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